The Manchester Road Race Committee will welcome runners and fans at two special “Road Race Saturday” events on the weekend before the starter’s gun sounds at its world-famous Thanksgiving Day run.
Organizers of the Manchester Road Race presented by Hartford HealthCare will hold their Health & Fitness Expo and “Little Manchester Road Race” on Saturday, November 21, 2026. Both events will take place at Manchester High School, which is located at 134 East Middle Turnpike in Manchester.
“Road Race Saturday” marks the traditional beginning of activities in Manchester that precede the annual Turkey Day race. Thousands of runners are expected to flood the town’s central streets when the annual road race is held for the 90th year this Thanksgiving (November 26, 2026).
The Health &Fitness Expo will feature exhibits and displays related to a wide range of topics of interest to runners, including training, athletic gear, and sports medicine. Manchester Road Race shirts and apparel will also be on sale. The event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon in the M.H.S. cafeteria.
In-person registration and bib pickup for the road race will also be available that day in the high school cafeteria from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
The Little Manchester Road Race will be held on the Manchester High School track at 10 a.m. It will feature fun runs of various distances for children ages 12 and younger, plus a display of emergency vehicles, a skydiving exhibition, face painting, music and costumed characters.
The road race will be held at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day (November 26, 2026). It is run on a 4.737-mile loop course that starts and finishes on Main Street, in front of St. James Church.
The registration fee for the Thanksgiving Day road race increases from $37 to $40 on November 1, 2026.
