SHELBURNE FALLS — John Busque had some registration issues prior to Saturday’s 39th annual running of the Bridge of Flowers 10K Classic. His troubles did not carry over to the course.
The Manchester, Conn., native and former University of Hartford standout registered hours before the 9 a.m. race, then went out and won, pacing the field across the finish line with a time of 31 minutes, 48 seconds.
Another first-timer also captured the women’s title as Holly Rees of Somerville crossed the line in 37:05 to win by over a minute.
Busque found out about the Bridge of Flowers race while running an event a week earlier. When some people began discussing the course, Busque thought he would give it a try. Then, during the week, Busque got in contact with Bridge of Flowers Elite runner coordinator Dan Smith and was given a coupon code to enter. Problem was the code did not work and, when he checked his email Thursday night, he discovered he was not officially entered. He then tried to register online again, but by then registration had closed, so Busque showed up Saturday morning for pre-race registration.
Busque, who recently earned his doctorate in physical therapy, quickly established himself. As the race started, he — along with defending champion Glarius Rop of Agawam, and first-time runner Scott Mindel out of Burlington — led the rest of the 569-runner field out of downtown Shelburne Falls. The trio remained together as they turned onto Maple Street, where a pack of five more runners settled in behind them.
Busque opened up a 10-yard lead as the three approached Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School and the first mile-marker on the 6.2-mile course. Rop and Mindel ran side-by-side behind. The race continued weaving through side streets in Shelburne Falls, where Busque continued to maintain his slight lead. As the men hit Main Street for the approach back through town, Rop settled into second place. The leaders gave spectators their second glance as they raced back into town and crossed the Iron Bridge for the ascent up Crittenden Hill, a brutal one-kilometer climb. Busque said he had heard about the hill and didn’t want to burn himself out before hitting it.
“The first two miles of the race were pretty comfortable; it took about 10 minutes, which is a pretty comfortable pace for a flat two miles,” he explained. “I knew a huge hill was coming, so I was a little nervous. I was like, ‘Oh God, is this too quick. Am I shooting myself in the foot?’ The hill hurt, but I think I went out at a good pace. It wasn’t too fast, wasn’t too slow.”
Busque maintained a five-second lead over Rop throughout much of the climb, and the two runners pulled well ahead of Mindel, who finished 23rd overall at this year’s Boston Marathon and had settled comfortably into third place during the Crittenden climb. When Busque hit the top, he still had a five-second advantage, but that quickly changed.
“Glarius is a good downhill runner and he made a move on me pretty much right at the top of the hill,” Busque said.
Rop quickly closed on Busque as the competitors ran downhill, and by the time they reached the bottom, Rop was in the lead by a second over Busque, setting up an exciting second-half of the race. After reaching the bottom, the course took runners onto the flat stretch of Route 112, which takes them past Mohawk Trail Regional High School and Busque regained the lead.
“I kind of let him go a little bit down the hill, but once the flats hit, I tried to press it a little bit,” he began. “Then I opened up a little bit of space and tried to hold on. I looked at my watch and said, ‘I’m going to put in a good, hard five minutes and see what happens.’ I threw down a good hard five minutes and I looked back and saw I had opened up a little bit of a lead.”
When the runners turned onto North Street for the final mile, Busque had opened up a 10-second lead and he was never again challenged. His run back toward town only saw the lead grow, and by the time he crossed the finish line, Busque had won by 43 seconds over Rop, who finished second in 32:31. Mindel took third in 33:15, Nicolai Naranjo of Allston came in fourth in 33:25, and Dennis Roche of Springfield was fifth in 33:44.
“It was a fun race,” Busque concluded. “I’m excited to come back and do it again.”
Rees was running in the event after meeting Smith at a previous event, and the 24-year-old from Hampshire, England, put on quite a show in her first Shelburne Falls visit.
Rees was at the front of the women’s field to start the race (the Iron Bridge is divided in half, with men on one side and women on the other to start) and she never relinquished the lead. Currently working on her Ph.D in Chemistry at Harvard University, Rees said that she came into Saturday’s race with one specific goal in mind, and it wasn’t necessarily to win.
“Some of my friends who had run this race before told me about the hill, so my goal was to run slow enough up the hill that I didn’t have to walk, and I was so happy that I managed that,” she said with a laugh. “The hill is absolutely crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever done a hill — especially on a 10K — that is so long and so difficult. I think that powered me through the rest of it.”
She said that once she hit the top, it was smooth sailing.
“The hill was mile three, and mile four was just amazing. It was fully downhill and so beautiful,” she said.
Although she did not break the course record of 35:21 set in 2004 by Tatyana Pozdnyakova, Rees did clock in with the fastest winning time on the women’s side since 2008, when Buzhnesh Tarekgn won in 35:59. Her time was nearly two minutes better than last year’s women’s winner, Semehar Tesfaye’s 39:03. Since 2008, only two women had managed to eclipse 38 minutes.
Busque also turned in one of the top performances in the past six years, easily eclipsing Rop’s winning time of 33:15 from a year ago. The last person to have a better winning time than Busque’s 31:48 was Brian Harvey in 2011, who won in 31:33.
Emma Spencer of Cambridge came in second in the women’s race in 38:10, while Westfield’s Apryl Sabadosa took third in 38:20. Karen Berstasso of Albany, N.Y., who won the event in 2015, was fourth in 39:10, and Jenna Gigliotti of Northampton was fifth in 39:12.
Smith was the top local finisher on the men’s side, placing eighth overall in 34:28. Aaron Stone of Greenfield came in 13th overall in 36:32.
Kelsey Allen of Wendell was the top local women’s finisher, placing seventh in the division in 40:37 and 38th overall, while Plainfield’s Meghan Davis, who runs for the Mohawk girls’ cross country and track and field teams, was 10th in the women’s division in 42:19 and 51st overall.
“It was good,” Davis said of her run. “I felt strong going up Crittenden Hill. It’s always hard. It never gets easy, but I’ve had a tough training season this summer. I was preparing myself well. I have been trying to run 45 to 50 miles a week, so I’ve been pushing myself.”
Madison Boucias of Buckland, a recent Mohawk graduate, came in 16th in the women’s division in 44:20, for 79th overall.
As always, a number of local runners finished well in their respective age groups.
Davis won the women’s ages 14 to 16 division, while Erving’s Isabel May was second in 44:55, and Shelburne sisters Lilly and Jackie Wells were third and fourth in 47:28 and 47:29. Courtney Danielsen of Greenfield won the women’s 17 to 19 division in 52:55, while Greenfield’s Sarah O’Sullivan was second in 55:20. Greenfield’s Laure Van Den Broeck was second in the women’s 40 to 44 division in 45:01, and Leverett’s Sarah Dolven won the 45 to 49 division in 45:07. Conway’s Sarah Habel was third in the 55 to 59 division in 51:07, and Conway’s Jackie Choate was second in the 65 to 69 division in 1:08:55.
On the men’s side, Dennis Simmons of Heath finished second in the 13 and under age group in 46:02, while Sunderland’s Owen Zinn-Keane was third in 47:57. Bob Bezio was third in the men’s 40 to 44 division in 41:44, and Conway’s Sean Dabus was third in the 45 to 49 division in 43:26. Shelburne’s Graham Warder was second in the 55 to 59 division in 43:55, while in the 60 to 64 division Greenfield’s Peter Kennedy (51:41) and Shelburne’s Mark Burton (52:14) were second and third.
The Steve Lewis Subaru Charity 3K Run/Walk took place prior to the main event and Joni Beauvias of Wilbraham led the field across the line in 11:55, narrowly beating Sunderland’s Ben Roberts, who came in second with the same time. Toby Hughes of Shelburne took third in 11:57, and Bryan Dole of Buckland was fourth in 12:01. Edward Przybyla of Southampton was fifth in 12:56. Elena Musiak of Easthampton was sixth in 13:05 and was the second women’s finisher, while Heather Pierce of Buckland was 10th overall and the third women’s finisher in 13:21.