Chester Rotary's 44th Four on the Fourth

The Chester Rotary's 44th 4 on the 4th will be in person on Monday, July 4th at 9am.   This USATF sanctioned, professionally chip-timed 4-mile road race starts in the charming village of Chester, Connecticut and runs past scenic waterways and along tree-lined roads.  A fun race with some challenging hills.

The race is hosted by the Rotary Club of Chester, CT a fully-volunteer, non-profit charitable organization to benefit human services and charitable organizations in Chester, Middlesex County and the broader community.

In Person Race is Monday, July 4, 2022 at 9:00AM.  Registration fee is $20 through June 17, and from June 18 through July 3, $25.  Packet pick up for the in-person race will be Saturday, July 2, at Soundrunner, Old Saybrook from 10:00AM to Noon and at St. Joseph’s Parish, Chester from Noon to 3:00PM.  

Virtual Race  The Virtual Race begins Monday morning July 4 at 12:01AM and continuing through Sunday evening, July 10, at 11:59pm.  Registration fee is $20 through June 17 and from June 18 through July 10, $25.  On-line registration only.  For the virtual race, t-shirt pick up will be at Chester Rotary’s Tent at Chester Sunday Market, July 3, from 10:00AM to 1:00PM.   Arrangements can be made for virtual runners’ t-shirts to be mailed after July 4th.

Beginning as a strictly local event for avid runners, the 4 on the 4th has become one of Chester Rotary’s most popular fundraisers.    In the beginning, keeping track of the runners and their time was by a paper notecard filled out at the start and handed to one of the volunteers as the runner crossed the finish line.  You can imagine the condition of some of the cards were in at the finish--certainly crumpled and some wet from the sprinklers some neighbors put out for runners!  Of course, there were cards lost along with way and some runners would just keep on running without handing in their card.  But that’s how it was done.

The course itself had changed in distance, location and direction over the years.  This was in part to address State highway and Town traffic concerns and due to some weather events.  One year in the 80’s a bridge was washed out so the course was reversed in direction and re-routed until repairs were completed.

In just a few years the race became very popular and too big for the few who made it work.  As some of them were already members of Chester Rotary, the Club was happy to take it on.  The race continues to be managed by the club members and friends.  

We’re grateful to Bruce Watrous, Lori Tomlinson, Richard Strauss, Leslie Strauss, Terry Schreiber, Jim Bairstow, Peter Good, Jan Good and others for all your efforts in the early years of the race and making it so special.  Thank you!