BEADLESCOMB, KELATI TAKE MANCHESTER ROAD RACE TITLES
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2023 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved – Used with permission.
MANCHESTER, CONN. (23-Nov) — Ahead of a field of nearly 11,000 runners enjoying a beautiful Thanksgiving morning, Morgan Beadlescomb and Weini Kelati won the 87th annual Manchester Road Race in convincing fashion. Beadlescomb, 25, the reigning USATF 5-K road running champion, used his powerful sprint to defeat defending champion Conner Mantz in the final 400 meters on Main Street. He was clocked in 21:12 to Mantz’s 21:15. Kelati, 26, ran away from her rivals right from the gun and enjoyed a solo victory in 23:21, her third consecutive victory here. Both athletes earned $7000 in prize money, and Kelati banked an extra $1000 in the intra-race Queen of the Hill competition.
KELATI GOES FROM THE GUN
Right from the start on Main Street, Weini Kelati was feeling good. She saw a strong group of men she could ride along with and didn’t hesitate to join them.
“Coming here, like, I have no doubts because it’s going to be, like, mix with the men’s race,” Kelati told reporters. “I like to go out hard, and I can keep up that way. I just used the opportunity to sit behind the guys and it worked.”
Kelati cruised through the Queen of the Hill timing point just before the two-mile mark on Highland Avenue where she picked up the $1000 prime. At that point she was 21 seconds ahead of her nearest chaser, marathoner Emily Durgin, who was closely trailed by reigning USATF 5-K women’s champion Annie Rodenfels. Kelati said she wasn’t worried about the women behind her and was enjoying the enthusiastic cheers of the crowds lining the 4.748 mile course.
“Just celebrating Thanksgiving with these people is just amazing,” Kelati said, later referring to the people of Manchester as her “family.” “As I said, I can’t miss it. Every corner there are people playing guitar, cheering for you. They just give you that little extra energy.”
In the battle for second, Rodenfels finished ahead of Durgin, 23:59 to 24:06. Fourth went to masters marathoner Sara Hall (24:23), while Florencia Borelli of Argentina rounded out the top five (24:24).
With her victory today Kelati joined USA Olympian Amy Rudolph as only the second athlete to win here on three consecutive occasions. Rudolph did it in 1995 through 1997.
BEADLESCOMB VS. MANTZ
Beadlescomb, who finished second here last year, really applied his knowledge of the course…
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