The 39th running of the Bridge of Flowers 10K Classic could shape up to be one of the most competitive finishes in recent memory in both the men’s and women’s fields.
While the annual event has a new race director and other new people helping run it after former director Mike McCusker stepped down following last year’s event, many of the top runners from recent races do return and have the race shaping up to be one worth watching.
The 10K Classic will begin this morning at 9 a.m. The main event is preceded by the Steve Lewis Subaru Charity 3K Run/Walk, which goes off at 8:15 a.m.
The men’s field will feature the defending champ and has the champions from each of the past four races. Two-time winner and defending champion Glarios Rop will be back as the favorite to win the race. Last season, Rop, from Agawam, cruised his way to the title as he finished the 6.2-mile run in 33 minutes, 15 seconds and cruised to a 36-second win over West Hartford, Conn.’s Eric Blake, who finished second.
Matthew Brooker, the 2015 champion from Albany, N.Y., finished third last season and returns for his shot at a second title. The 2014 winner, Amos Sang of Chicopee, may be the favorite to beat Rop, his training partner who he beat by one second to win the 2014 race. Sang did not run last season, but did finish second to Rop in 2013.
Shelburne Falls’ Dan Smith is helping to coordinate the Elite runners’ field and he is in the mix himself. Smith finished fourth last season and will be near the front of the field. Pittsfield’s Mark Rabasco finished fifth last season and is another top runner in the mix.
There are also a pair of first-timers running the race who could unseat Rop. Scott Mindel from Burlington came in 23rd overall at the Boston Marathon earlier this year in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 27 seconds and is also dangerous in 10K races. Morgan Marlow of Amherst is a recent graduate of UMass, where he ran cross country and track. He is another first-timer, and recently ran a 15-minute, 5K.
Smith said that despite the race not being part of the New England Grand — which helps attract top runners — he believes the field is very strong.
“In a non-Grand Prix year, this is the deepest field that I’ve seen at this race,” he explained. “There is so much depth in the top 10 this year.”
The same holds true on the women’s side, where defending champion Semehar Tesfaye was supposed to be back an injury is preventing her from running. That leaves the door open for a new champion and there are plenty of women who will vie for that title.
One favorite is Holly Rees of Somerville, who Smith said has the speed to potentially break the course record of 35:21, set by Tatyana Pozdnyakova in 2004. Rees has a 10K time of 33:15, but that did not include a one-kilometer climb like the one she will endure on Crittenden Hill, which will slow her down and could spare the record from being broken. Apryl Sabadosa of Westfield finished third last season and should be in the running. Karen Bertasso of Albany, N.Y., is a two-time champion (winning in 2014 and 2015) and she returns for her shot at a third crown. Bertasso finished fourth last season.
There are a number of other first-timers who will also compete for the title. Sara Buckley of Slingerlands, N.Y. competed in cross country and track at Division I University of Hartford and ran a 37-minute 10K in May. Emma Spencer of Cambridge runs a 16-minute 5K, while Jenna Gigliotti is a Duquesne grad who now lives in Northampton and has run a 37-minute 10K. Hannah Brooker, wife of 2015 men’s champion Matthew Brooker, is also in the field and is a top runner.
“There is going to be this contingent of a really strong field up front,” Smith said. “I think the top 10 in both the men’s and women’s field are going to be really good.”
The Elite runners will be the ones to keep an eye on at the front of the race but there are plenty of others who will be celebrated today as prize money has been more evenly distributed over the past several years and age group winners earn an equal cut of the prize pool as the overall runners. The race has also always been hailed for striving to be just as friendly to women runners as men. Not only is prize money even (as it always has been), but runners from the Mohawk Trail Regional High School girls’ cross country and track & field teams will be on hand to help spectators identify the top females as they finish. The Mohawk athletes will carry flags alongside the top women’s runners as they cross the Iron Bridge for the finish line today.
As for the race itself, things begin and end on the Iron Bridge on Bridge Street in Shelburne Falls, which will be closed from 6 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. this morning. Runners will leave town and turn left onto Maple Street where they will head out toward the Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School, which is once again serving as race-day parking for runners and spectators, as well as the registration area. After weaving their way through several side roads, runners will head onto Main Street and back onto Bridge Street where they will take a right and head over the Iron Bridge to the Buckland side.
It’s here where the race can be won or lost. Once runners cross the bridge, they will begin the ascent up Crittenden Hill, a one-kilometer climb that helps separate the field. Crittenden is considered the steepest mid-race climb in the Northeast, and just as grueling as the climb up the hill is, the descent down the backside can be just as challenging for runners, as their legs begin feeling like jelly. The final miles of the race take runners onto Route 112, where they run past Mohawk and head back into town via North Street before their final sprint across the Iron Bridge to the finish line.
Organizors ask that spectators head to Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School via Mechanic Street, rather than heading onto South Maple Street past the Historic Sweetheart Restaurant. Anyone interested in registering can still do so this morning at Buckland-Shelburne Elementary.