Mystic — When Jeff Anderson took over the Kelley’s Pace running shoe store in Olde Mistick Village last winter, he pledged to not only renovate and keep the store alive but carry on the legacy of its founders — the late John and Jessie Kelley.

He not only kept their name on the store but placed a large green sign behind the cash register thanking the Kelleys, along with photographs of them.

Now Anderson is bringing back two road races, the Frostbite 5 Miler and Hare Hop 5k, which had been sponsored by Kelley’s Pace for many years but had ceased to exist. The Frostbite was last held in 2001 and the Hare Hop in 2013.

As soon as he opened last year he said customers began asking if he was going to revive the two races. Initially he was too busy getting the store up and running.

“I wanted to bring them back instead of creating new races so we could continue the legacy of the Kelleys,” he said. “It's another way of bringing Kelley’s Pace back to its full potential.”

John Kelley was a two-time Olympian and eight-time national marathon champion who won the 1957 Boston Marathon and went on to teach and coach at Fitch High School. He died in 2011, and a bronze statue of him running with his dog Brutus has been erected in a small park on West Main Street.

Jessie, who died in 2003, ran Kelley’s Pace for many years. Their Pequot Avenue home was the unofficial headquarters for southeastern Connecticut runners.

Anderson said the races will benefit local nonprofit groups.

The Frostbite 5 Miler on Saturday, Jan. 9, at 8 a.m. at Old Mistick Village will benefit Mystic Area Hospitality & Shelter.

“We’ll be out running in the cold to help families get out of the cold,” Anderson said.

The Kelleys were known for opening up their home to runners, including those who were down on their luck.

The Saturday, March 5, Hare Hop 5K will benefit the scholarships awarded to Fitch High School runners by the John Kelley Memorial Fund. The fund is the entity that raised the money to erect the larger-than-life-sized bronze statue.

Anyone who runs the Frostbite, Hare Hop and the John & Jessie Kelley Ocean Beach Park race in August will receive a Kelley’s Pace Shoreline Trifecta medallion.

Registration and more information about the races is available in the store and at www.KelleysPaceMystic.com.

j.wojtas@theday.com

Twitter: @joewojtas