V 5 N. 115 Women Officially Get into Road Racing 1961

Gary Corbitt just sent us this piece on a couple of Thanksgiving day races.   FYI.   Note first distance race that women officially ran in the US in 1961.   I'm sure that England was way ahead of the US in this as I've seen some film of women's cross country there in the 1920s.    Oldest Thanksgiving race west of the Alleghenies is the race from Newport, KY to Cincinnati, OH.  I'll be running a solo on this non-Thanksgiving Day in Canada.   All the best to all of you on this occasion.
George Brose

Manchester, New Hampshire, 1961
Diane Lachausse and Julia Chase receive discouraging words from
Race Director  Pete Wigern.  Their expressions say it all.

Thanksgiving Day Running History

The Berwick Marathon – Run For The Diamonds – Berwick, PA

9 Miles( including a hill climb from 2 to 3.5 miles)

The Race Started in 1908

11-22-56 Browning Ross wins his 10^th Berwick Marathon this streak includes an incredible 7 in a row. This his last win was over Rudy Mendez-NYPC in an epic battle with a time of 46:39.

11-23-45 John A. Kelley wins his 4^th straight Berwick Marathon in 49:16 ahead of Forrest Efaw.

11-27-41 Lou Gregory-Millrose AA won his third Berwick Marathon in 48:25 in defeating John A. Kelley.  There were 22 starters.

11-28-29 The only African American to ever win at the Berwick Marathon was Gus Moore running 49:42 in beating Penn State’s Dick Detwiler in adverse weather conditions.  There were 31 starters.

11-28-40 Ellison “Tarzan” Brown the Narragansett Indian wins Berwick Marathon in 50:35 in beating Les Pawson in snowy conditions.

11-28-46 Harris Browning Ross a 22 year old Villanova Freshman wins Berwick Marathon in a record time 48:35 in beating Canadian Walt Fedorick.

11-30-22 Ville Ritola – Finland wins his second straight Berwick Marathon in record setting time 47:56 in beating African American R. Earl Johnson who was just 3 seconds off the old course record.  There were 8 starters.

Thanksgiving Day Running History

Manchester Road Race – Manchester, CT

4.7 Miles

The race started in 1927

11-22-45 Charlie Robbins wins at Manchester as the race returns after a hiatus since 1934. There were 8 starters and Robbins winning time of 26:19 is a performance he nearly duplicated 25 years later.

11-22-62 John J. Kelley-BAA records his 6^th win at the Manchester Road Race in 24:30 and beat Len Ehler and Larry Damon.

11-23-61 Julia Chase, Chris McKenzie, and Diane Lechausse make running history as the first women to compete in a road race in the United States.  This seminal event happened at the annual  Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving.

Julia Chase at the finish

That 1961 Manchester Race Story

11-24-32 Joe McCluskey wins his 3^rd consecutive Manchester Road Race on Thanksgiving Day.  

11-24-77 Amby Burfoot wins his 9^th Manchester Road Race and his 7^th consecutive win.

11-25-48 Ted Vogel wins at Manchester and just misses Joe McCluskey’s record with a time of 25:03 in beating Fred Schoeffler of Tufts.

11-27-47 Joe McCluskey returned to the winners circle after 15 years since winning in record time 25:02 over Bob Knowles.

There's even a book on the Berwick Race

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