FIFTH WIN FOR KELATI, COURSE RECORD FOR KURGAT AT MANCHESTER ROAD RACE
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2025 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permission.
MANCHESTER, CONN. (27-Nov) — On a bright, windy and cold Thanksgiving morning here, Weini Kelati and Edwin Kurgat won the 89th edition of the Manchester Road Race, the second-largest race in New England behind the Boston Marathon. Kelati, 28, surged to the lead from the gun, blasted through the first mile in 4:40, and won her fifth straight title in 23:18, 50 seconds ahead of her closest rival. Kurgat, 29, ran a brilliant tactical race and, despite running into a strong headwind in the third and fourth miles, ran a course record 20:54 for the hilly 4.737 loop course. Both athletes won $7000 in prize money plus an additional $1000 prime for leading at the top of Highland Street Hill just past the two-mile mark.
KELATI TRIED FOR THE RECORD
Not satisfied to win for the fifth straight time –tying American Amy Rudolph’s record for most wins by a woman in Manchester– Kelati tried to break her own course record. That 4:40 first mile (helped by a brisk tailwind) put her on track, but the middle portion of the race with the big climb up Highland Street followed by the plunging downhill on Porter Street took it’s toll on her pace.
“Coming back every year I was like, this is a hilly course,” Kelati told reporters.
Running with her partner, Abrham Tesfamarion, Kelati made it to the four-mile mark in 19:42. Even with Tesfamarion helping to block the wind, Kelati was already down on course record pace. She would have to be satisfied with the win.
“I tried,” Kelati continued. “I came here to run under the record, so I was like, I have to run fast this first mile to finish strong. But I think it cost me a little bit.”
Nonetheless, Kelati was thrilled to become a five-time Manchester champion.
“I did not even think that I would make it five when I ran my first race here (in 2021),” said Kelati, a Paris 2024 Olympian. “I’m really happy.”
Dorcus Ewoi, a Kenyan athlete who won the silver medal in the 1500m at the World Athletics Championships in September, was expected to challenge Kelati today, but she ran well behind her American rival and was never a factor in the race. Ewoi finished seventh in 24:40.
Britain’s Hannah Nuttall finished second in 24:08, and American Taylor Werner –who has been living and training in Australia for most of the last year– took third in 24:23.
MEN START FAST
The tailwind blowing on Main Street pushed the men to a fast opening mile of 4:18. Kenya’s Amon Kemboi and Ireland’s Peter Lynch, training partners in the Puma Elite Running group in North Carolina, were the early leaders.
“Downhill with the wind at your back it’s going to be screaming for the first mile,” said Kurgat’s coach Stephen Haas from the race’s lead vehicle.
Indeed, that opening mile was ten seconds faster than last year, and soon the other key contenders caught up with Kemboi and Lynch. The leaders began the climb of Highland Street, then split 4:35 for the second mile despite the uphill. Kurgat and Kemboi put in a little surge for the King of the Hill prime (Kurgat got it by half a step), but that surge put them ahead of the rest of the pack except for 25 year-old Briton David Mullarkey, who was running in only his second professional road race. Mullarkey, wearing his Northern Arizona University kit, led Kurgat and Kemboi as the leaders turned left to run down Porter Street.
“I think right now it’s about trying to get the confidence to run with these guys,” Mullarkey told Race Results Weekly. “That’s why I hit the front today to prove to other people, but also to myself, that I can compete with these guys.”
The third mile split was 4:34, not particularly fast for such a steep downhill, but the strong headwind slowed them down a bit. Mullarkey ran in front with Kemboi and Kurgat behind him. Behind the two leaders, American Morgan Beadlescomb and Lynch caught up making it a pack of five, at least temporarily until Kemboi was dropped. At the four-mile mark (17:49/4:25) Mullarkey and Kurgat were running on the right side of the roadway, drafting the small utility vehicle which carried the television camera operator. Beadlescomb was on the left-hand side with Lynch behind him.
Kurgat was getting ready to make his big move. He didn’t want to kick too hard and too soon like he did last year when he finished third. Instead he gently upped the pace and started to put a gap on Mullarkey.
“Last year I just pushed the pace so hard and didn’t save any energy for the end,” Kurgat told reporters. “This time I wanted to be really, really methodical and plan my race. I waited to the end when I knew I had it.”
Kurgat made the race’s final turn onto Main Street with a six-second lead, and his lead was never threatened. Behind him, Mullarkey and Beadlescomb battled it out for second. Beadlescomb passed Mullarkey on the downhill, but the Briton battled back and was able to hold on to second place in 20:58, six seconds under Conner Mantz’s 2022 course record.
“It’s an uphill finish, so you never know,” Mullarkey said about his battle with Beadlescomb. “He came back just a little bit. Too much of a gap to cover.”
Beadlescomb was satisfied with third place in 20:59 (also under the previous course record). He’s been building up for the USATF Cross Country Championships a week from Saturday in Portland, Ore., where he will run the 10-K and try to qualify for the World Athletics Cross Country Championships.
“I just really wasn’t tucked in, and I think the wind on the backstraight hurt with those surges,” Beadlescomb said. He continued: “Coming in there were some good signs there. Fitness is where we want it to be.”
Kurgat was clearly pleased with the win, and said he wasn’t focused on the course record. He only learned that he broke it when a reporter told him during his first post-race interview.
“I didn’t know I was on record pace,” said Kurgat. “I just knew when I was getting interviewed. I was like, ‘that’s great!’ I wanted to come here and run hard and make sure I get a good time, and I’m so glad that happened.”
Well behind the leaders, 79 year-old Amby Burfoot completed the race for the 63rd consecutive year, the most of anyone in history. The former Runner’s World editor-in-chief clocked 44:48, averaging an impressive 9:28 per mile.
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Today’s race had 10,624 finishers up 27% from last year when it rained. That’s the greatest number of finishers since 2019, the last in-person edition of the race before the pandemic when 11,097 athletes crossed the finish line.
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ENDS
