Virtual Manchester Road Race Making Its Way Across The Globe

MANCHESTER, CT — Runners based in foreign lands are bringing the 2020 Virtual Manchester Road Race to spots all over the globe.

International runners will be completing the 4.748-mile distance in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, at the site of an old gunpowder factory in Ireland, through the streets of an historic hamlet in Great Britain and at a seacoast city Down Under, race officials said.

When the Manchester Road Race went virtual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, it also went global. Because entrants in the Virtual Manchester Road Race will use a smartphone app that enables them to run the MRR at any location, anywhere in the world, .

Race officials said they have been receiving a number of entries from runners in foreign countries.

Mary Cotard, the daughter of Olympic medalist and four-time Manchester champion Joe McCluskey, will run the MRR—her third—in Paris this November. Cotard is a financial manager who has lived in France for a number of years.

Although the French government recently imposed stringent restrictions to combat rising coronavirus infections in the country, residents are permitted to exercise outside of their homes for an hour a day within one kilometer of where they live.

"Which means that I definitely do intend to run in the virtual MRR," Cotard wrote in a recent email to the race committee. "I would run the race even if I had to run around the block many times. I will not miss the race."

Two members of the MRR's famed "Irish Connection," John Treacy and Eamonn Coghlan, will also join the VMRR from Ireland this November.

Treacy won the silver medal in the marathon at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and was a four-time champion in Manchester. Coghlan, one of the world's greatest indoor milers, had three Turkey Day wins here.

Also in Ireland, Kieran Donovan of Cork will walk the VMRR with his wife, Rita, at the 140-acre Ballincollig Regional Park, where a factory that produced gunpowder for the armies of the British Empire was once located. The Donovan’s adult children, Ian and Susan, will also participate. Kieran Donovan was a standout Irish half-miler at Holy Cross and placed 19th at the 1968 MRR and finished 12th in 1971.

Fiona Warland plans to run the road race through the quaint streets of a town in Great Britain that was settled by the Saxons in the sixth century.

"My husband Gary and I will be running in/around Bicester, very close to Oxford and an hour north of London," she said in a recent email to race organizers. The Warlands traveled from Great Britain to Manchester to compete in the Thanksgiving Day run in 2015 and 2017. Gary Warland placed fifth in the 40-45 age group at the 2015 MRR.

Dan and Molly Kennedy will use a double stroller to push their twins, Cora and Finn, when they all participate in the VMRR in Sydney, Australia. Cora and Finn were born there on June 23. Ned and Dani Kennedy of Vernon are the grandparents.

Members of the Kennedy family have been long-time participants at the Manchester Road Race. Dani Kennedy is also a member of the MRR's Executive Committee.

Race organizers have already registered runners from France, Ireland, Great Britain, Singapore, Chile, New Zealand and Australia. They expect to receive more entries from foreign countries before the Nov. 24 deadline when registration ends.

"There is an old saying that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade," Manchester Road Race President Dr. Tris Carta said. "We are doing that during the Covid-19 pandemic by sponsoring the virtual race. One of the great things this year is the fact that people are showing their solidarity with us during this crisis by running the Manchester Road Race at places all around the world."

Registration for the Virtual Manchester Road Race began on October 1st and will continue through Nov. 24. The VMRR can be run anytime between Nov. 19 and Nov. 25.

More information about the virtual race, and on-line entry applications are available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.