Road Race notebook: Longtime race director Balcome says goodbye

Nov. 25—MANCHESTER — For the 43rd and final time, Jim Balcome's distinctive voice kicked off the Manchester Road Race with his signature phrase: "This is Thanksgiving in Manchester."

Balcome, one of only two race directors in the 86-year history of the Manchester Road Race, is retiring at the conclusion of this year's events. The 78-year-old retired guidance counselor has been the race director since 1979.

"I don't know what emotions I have right now," Balcome said after the race. "Bottom line is will I miss being here next year. This is one of my favorite days of the year."

Balcome is not quite done yet. He has to work at the race's blood drive Friday at Manchester High, then organize the Charlie Robbins Club lunch Nov. 30 for the race's 75-plus runners. He will officially step down after those two events.

"There's never going to be another Jim Balcome," said Tris Carta, President of the Manchester Road Committee. "He's a combination of lot's of traits that have propelled the Manchester Road Race into the stratosphere that it is now. He is a detail-oriented person that no detail is too small for him to be sure it's right. He has vision of creating the best race in the United States on Thanksgiving Day. He is the first person to accept all the success for himself, kiddingly. But he's also the first person to thank anybody and everybody who helped the Manchester Road Race."

Balcome went out on a high note, with perfect weather conditions and five men breaking the previous course record.

"Everything fell into place," Balcome said. "It was a great day."

His fondest road race memories include watching Hartford Public graduate Charlie Duggan win the race in 1980 after 12 attempts and the snow year when an ice melt chemical was dusted onto the road.

"I don't know what it was but I have a feeling that 2-3 days after the race, the bottom of a lot of people's shoes fell off," Balcome said.

Balcome concluded his final race day the way he always has. He greeted the last runner to cross the finish line then, when everything was cleaned up, headed home to have a glass of Harvey's Bristol Cream sherry and take a nap.

"He loves the elite runner who comes in first, and he loves the last runner who comes in, and everybody in between," Carta said. "He's just a very, very special person. I don't think there's ever going to be anybody like him. The Road Race will continue without him, but it will be different."

As for his famous Thanksgiving Day phrase? Balcome will record it so that it can still be used in the future, while he'll be sitting on a beach in Florida with his wife.

"Physically, I won't be here but mentally and emotionally, I'll still be here," Balcome said.

Coventry's Norstrom sidelined with injury

Coventry resident Alex Norstrom was on a training run last week when he felt a stab of pain in his right leg.

The Coventry High graduate, who won the 2021 Hartford Marathon, struggled to walk in the days following the injury and realized that he was in no condition to compete in the Road Race on Thanksgiving Day.

"I haven't been able to run since, so I've been trying to rest as much as I can and go online and look things up and try to see some doctors," Norstrom said. "I'm trying to take all the stress off the muscle right now to see if that helps. Hopefully it will. It's frustrating, especially for this race, I was really looking forward to it. I haven't done it in a couple years, since before COVID, but hopefully I can run next year."

Norstrom had planned to compete in several 5K indoor events in the winter but will re-evaluate his schedule while on the mend.

"I did sign up for another marathon in New Jersey at the end of April, so at this point, I may bag everything in the winter and just get back healthy and build for that," Norstrom said. "It's tailored toward Olympic trials qualifying, so that will be the goal there, to get an Olympic trials time."

Burfoot crosses finish line for 60th consecutive year

Amby Burfoot reached another monumental milestone and set two more records in 86th edition of the Thanksgiving Day race.

Burfoot, 76, a nine-time champion in Manchester and winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon, crossed the finish line for the 60th year in a row, extending his own records for most races and most consecutive runs.

He finished in 40:13.49 Thursday, the best time in the 75-79 male division.

Burfoot's streak began in 1963 when he first entered the road race as a high school senior, won the scholastic title, and finished in 14th place overall. He has run in every Road Race since then.

The Wesleyan University graduate won the race a record nine times during the decade between 1968 and 1977. Seven of those victories (1971-1977) came in successive years, which is also a Road Race record.

"It is absolutely amazing when you consider that our race is being held for the 86th time and Amby Burfoot has been running here for the last 60 years," Carta said. "Amby is a terrific athlete and gentleman, and we are so grateful for the many contributions that he has made to the Manchester Road Race and its history."

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