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MANCHESTER –- Patti Dillon was running with the guys in the Greater Boston Track Club one day in 1979 when someone mentioned they were going to Manchester Road Race.

Where was Manchester? Dillon didn’t know. Did she want to go? Sure.

Dillon, one of the top American women’s runners at the time, not only ran the Thanksgiving Day 4.737-mile race and won it, but she broke the course record by over a minute, winning in 25 minutes, 37 seconds. The course record was 27:13, set by 1979 runner-up Lisa Berry, who also broke her own record, running 26:33 in 1979.

To put it in perspective, the 1978 winner Gale Jones won in 29:02 and a year later, Ellyn Block won in 28:19. Dillon held the record until 1985 when eventual four-time winner and eventual O

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