MANCHESTER — The individual accomplishments steal the spotlight at most road races, but there is a team component to some of them as well.

The Cigna/Elliot Corporate 5K is one of those races, and on Thursday the corporate team awards were handed out as well as the individual awards.

The award for most participants had three categories; small, medium and large. The award for the large category went to BAE Systems, the award for the medium category went to Autodesk and four teams tied for the small category. Those teams were DTS Inc. Therapy Rehab & Exercise, WESCO Distribution Inc., Couptopia.com and Rockingham County.

There were also awards for highest percentage of participants. The winner of the large category was Allegro Micro Systems Inc., the winner of the medium category was NH NeuroSpine Institute and the winner of the small category was Total Image Fitness Training.

“This is a corporate, team building, health and wellness day,” said Susanna Whitcher, vice president of public affairs and marketing at Elliot Hospital. “They care about participating together. That’s what we want.”

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For the third year in a row, Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas officially kicked off the race at the start line just outside of City Hall on Elm Street.

“What a great event,” Gatsas said. “I want to thank Cigna because they’ve been out in front of this for 20 years.”

Gatsas said he has attended probably 10 of the 20 races, which typically attracts a lot of people downtown and gives a boost to businesses in the Elm Street area, many of which stay open late for the race.

“It’s a good thing for the city of Manchester,” Gatsas said.

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One new thing to this year’s race was the addition of an RFI chip to the bibs of the runners. That chip allowed runners to get their times as soon as they were done the race by scanning their chips at a designated site.

There was a tent set up in Veterans Park, where runners could do just that, and it was a busy place as lines formed behind the two stations in the tent.

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The top two finishers in the race, Abiyot Warku and Alene Reta, know each other pretty well.

They are both originally from Ethiopia and now both live in New York City. They have raced against each other many times, but Warku said this was the first time he has actually beaten Reta.

“I’m very happy,” Warku said. “I know he’s a great runner.”

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Reta isn’t new to the CIGNA race. In fact, he has won the race three times (2006, 2007 and 2009) and holds the course record of 13:52.65 he set in 2009.

He was focussed on beating that time of Thursday and was on a pretty good pace to early. Then he hit the hill on West Merrimack Street and not only lost the record, but the race as well.

“I pushed hard, but I got tired (at the hill),” Reta said.

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Mark Quirk may be reached at mquirk@unionleader.com.