The Bridge of Flowers 10K Classic had a taste of Albany, N.Y., last summer and could very well have it again Saturday morning when the 38th running of the annual event takes place in Shelburne Falls.
Albany residents Matthew Brooker and Karen Bertasso won in 2015, and both runners are returning to defend their crowns when hundreds of athletes line up at the Iron Bridge for the start of the race at 9 a.m. As always, race day actually begins at 8:15 a.m. with the running of the Steve Lewis Subaru 3K Charity Run/Walk, which also starts on the Iron Bridge.
Brooker finished last year’s race in 33 minutes, 50 seconds to easily outpace the rest of the field, winning the race by 42 seconds. Bertasso, the two-time defending champion after also winning in 2014, came in 14th overall and was the first female to cross the line in a time of 37:46, winning the women’s race by 34 seconds.
While both champions are back for another go-round, there are plenty of runners gunning for them, including a number of the runners-up from last season. On the men’s side, Shelburne Falls native Dan Smith is back after finishing second to Brooker last year in 34:32.
Another runner to keep an eye on is East Hartford, Conn’s, Eric Blake, who last raced the Bridge in 2010 when he finished fourth overall. Blake’s time that year was 32:45, which would have beaten Brooker’s time from last season. Blake also just finished second at the Mt. Washington Road Race with an impressive time of 59:49. Bryan Morseman, from Bath, N.Y., has run the Bridge of Flowers course in 32:29 and should also be in the hunt, as should Pittsfield’s Mark Rabasco who has also run the course in a sub-33 minute time.
The women’s field should be just as competitive. One person who in position to challenge Bertasso’s two-year reign is Semehar Tesfaye, a former Division I runner from Arkansas who recently moved to Boston. Tesfaye can run a marathon in 2 hours, 37 minutes, and runs a half-marathon in 1 hour, 12 minutes, both fast times. She will be making her Bridge of Flowers debut.
The second- and third-place finishers from a year ago are also back, in Hannah Brooker (the wife of Matthew) and Apryl Sabadosa, who lives in Westfield. Brooker finished the race in 38:20 last year (17th overall). Sabadosa was right behind her in 39 minutes (18th overall).
As if the field wasn’t crowded enough at the top, 2013 female champion Heidi Westover of Walpole, N.H., is also returning to the race; her 2013-winning time of 37:32 would have beaten Bertasso.
While the Elite runners are the ones to watch for the overall finish, the race is just as friendly to non-Elites, as prize money has been more evenly distributed over the past seven years. Elite runners were previously awarded a larger percentage of the prize money, but divisional winners now see an even split. The distribution table can be located by going to ShelburneFalls.com.
The race begins and ends on the Iron Bridge on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls, which will be closed from 6 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. on the day of the race. The field will head out of town amidst a slew of spectators lining the street, and as the pack begins to climb the incline as it makes its way toward Route 2, the pack will begin to thin. Runners will turn left onto Maple Street and head toward the Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School, which is also once again serving as race-day parking for runners and spectators. After winding through some of the side streets around the elementary school, the runners will head onto Main Street and back onto Bridge Street.
This marks the second glimpse that spectators will get of the runners, when they run over the Iron Bridge and prepare to take on the most daunting part of the course — Crittenden Hill. At a climb of one-kilometer, Crittenden is considered the Northeast’s steepest midrace climb. This is the point of the race where the contendors really come to the foreground, as the first person to reach the hill is not always the first person to reach the top. On top of that, some runners exert too much energy climbing the hill and run out of gas for the second half of the race.
When runners reach the Crittenden peak, they then have to make their way down the back side of the mountain, which is also no easy feat when your legs begin to feel like jelly. Runners then head out onto Rt. 112, where they run past Mohawk Trail Regional High School and head back into town via North Street. One final sprint across the Iron Bridge for the runners takes them to the balloon-lined arc that signals the finish line.
The prerace spaghetti dinner will be held tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. at Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School. The dinner is free and prerace packets can be picked up at this time.
Bill Rodgers will also be on hand to run the race and help at the awards ceremony. The famous runner known as “Boston Billy” will also be signing autographs.