MANCHESTER — The leading results from the 85th Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day, as North Americans runner Ben Flanagan and Weini Kelati secured the women’s and men’s titles on Thursday.
American Kelati won the women’s division and broke the course record by a minute after breaking the tape a finishing line with a time of 22:55 over the 4.748-miles race. The 24-year-old, living in Flagstaff, Arizona, is an Eritrean who became a U.S. citizen earlier this year. She finished 18th place overall.
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Kelati ran with the lead pack dominated by men early before dropping off, but she managed to smash the previous course record, set by Buze Diriba of Ethiopia in 2017 at set the record 23:57.
“I was running with the guys and I said, ‘If I’m running with them, that means I’m running fast,’” Kelati said after the race. “I didn’t realize until I saw [her coach] at the finish line and he said, ‘You got the record’ and I was like, ‘That’s awesome.’”
Finishing second to Kelati in the women’s category was Keira D’Amato, who also went out fast before dropping back off the pace, went on to break the previous course record as well when crossing with a time of 23:49.
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Her time was enough for 30th overall in the race that saw the elite men and women all starting together.
Meanwhile, Flanagan won the men’s race with 21:23. The 26-year-old became the first Canadian since Chris Weber in 1990 to win the Manchester Road Race. He, however, fell seven seconds shy of Edward Cheserek’s 2019 course record.
Flanagan, who lives in Charlottesville, Va., broke from the pack in the third mile of the run before cruising to the victory over Americans Leonard Korir (21:35) who finished second in 2016, and Sam Chelanga (21:37), the 2013 winner.
“I ran in 2019 and I got my butt kicked,” said Flanagan. “Everybody told me the first time’s always the worst. I drove the course two times.
“I thought about this race a lot and what my strategy would be and it definitely paid off.”
2021 Manchester Road Race Results
Top results men 4.748-miles
- Ben Flanagan (CAN) – 21:23
- Leonard Korir (USA) – 21:35
- Sam Chelanga (USA) – 21:37
- John Dressel (USA) – 21:42
- Joey Berriatua (USA) – 21:47
- Tai Dinger (USA) – 21:50
- Drew Hunter (USA) – 21:54
- Blaise Ferro (USA) – 21:55
- Alex Ostberg (USA) – 21:57
- Mohamed Hrezi (LBA) – 22:04
- Alfredo Santana (PUR) – 22:06
- Matt McClintock (USA) – 22:12
Top results women 4.748-miles
- Weini Kelati (USA) – 22:55
- Keira D’Amato (USA) – 23:49
- Edna Kiplagat (KEN) – 24:04
- Sara Inglis (USA) – 24:06
- Fiona O’Keeffe (USA) – 24:15
- Katie Izzo (USA) – 24:21
- Monica Ngige (KEN) – 24:37
- Poppy Tank (USA) – 24:49
- Amy-Eloise Markovc (GBR) – 24:53
- Aisling Cuffe (USA) – 24:59
- Emily Setlack (USA) – 25:16
- Tristin Van Ord (USA) – 25:31
Click here for complete results
