A world champion, a rising star on the international road racing circuit, and the three fastest men ever to run on the 4.737-mile loop course will all answer the starter’s gun when the 90th Manchester Road Race presented by Hartford HealthCare is held on Thanksgiving Day
Jim Harvey, elite coordinator for the Manchester Road Race Committee, announced this morning that MRR defending champion Edwin Kurgat, 2025 runner-up Dave Mullarkey, World Champion Dawit Seare and NCAA Champion Habtom Samuel have all recently committed to run in the Turkey Day race.
They will be joined at the Main Street line by Morgan Beadlescomb, the race’s 2023 champion and last year’s third place finisher, whose entry was previously announced.
Kurgat, a Kenyan Olympian, became the first athlete to run the Manchester loop in under 21 minutes when he won the 2025 race in the torrid time of 20:54. Mullarkey, a top long-distance competitor from the United Kingdom, finished second in 20:58, and Beadlescomb was third in 20:59.
All three runners eclipsed the prior course record of 21:04 that Conner Mantz set in 2022. “This means that we will have the three fastest men ever to run in the MRR competing in this year’s race,” Harvey said.
Harvey said that the entries of Seare and Samuel, who are both from Eritrea, will make this year’s elite field even more competitive. Both athletes are making their first appearances In Manchester.
Seare shocked the international running community when he upset Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway to win the World 5-K Road Championship in Copenhagen on September 19th with a time of 12:56. He has a personal best time of 7:37:52 for 3000 meters.
Samuel, who competed for the University of New Mexico and recently turned professional, scored an amazing double at the NCAA Championships in June by winning both the 5000 meters (13:38.12) and 10,000 meters (28:42.53). Harvey regards Samuel, who holds a personal best of 26:51 in the 10,000 meters, as one of the hottest young prospects on the world road racing scene. Samuel won the Boston Half Marathon at Franklin Park in Boston yesterday (Nov.8, 2026) in the record time of 59:49.
Mexican Olympian Eduardo Herrera is also returning to this year’s road race. Herrera finished second at the 2024 MRR (21:15). He has run the 3000 meters in 7:27 and the 5000 meters in 12:58.
“Jim Harvey has recruited a deep field of outstanding elite athletes to compete here this Thanksgiving,” said Dr. Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Race Committee. “It is going to be a very exciting race.”
The Manchester Road Race presented by Hartford HealthCare is one of America’s oldest and most celebrated Turkey Day races. It will be held for the 90th time at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26, 2026). The race starts and finishes on Main Street. In front of St.James Church.
Online registration and more details are available at www.manchesterroadrace.com.