It was a successful return for the Bridge of Flowers Road Race after a two-year hiatus due to COVID, with nearly 500 runners participating. 

Now in its second year back, and with a full crew of volunteers ready to go, the race will feel even more like it did pre-COVID when the 43rd running of the eight-kilometer race gets underway at 9 a.m. on Saturday in downtown Shelburne.

The 3K charity race will get the day going at 8 a.m. 

“It’s going to be smoother and more efficient than last year now that we have a more experienced team,” race director Dan Smith said. “Last year was my first as the race director after serving as an assistant in previous years. There was a learning curve and there were things we certainly hoped to improve on from last year. We’re taking care of that this year and are going to return the race back to what made it so successful.” 

Leakey Karoney was the top finisher in the race last year, as the Springfield resident blazed through the 8-kilometer course in a time of 26 minutes, 6 seconds to capture the overall title. He finished 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Mac Sloan Anderson of Shelburne Falls (26:29).

AnnMarie Tuxbury had a run to remember last year. The Newport, R.I., resident blistered through in a time of 28:47 to finish as the top female finisher. That time broke the women’s course record by 13 seconds, besting Aisling Cuffe’s time of 29:00 in 2018. 

Karoney is dealing with some nagging injuries, and Tuxbury is now competing on a professional running team in North Carolina, meaning neither will be running on Saturday. 

Two new champions will be crowned, and there’s a chance both are local. Sloan-Anderson is running again this year and n the women’s side, Mohawk Trail and Tufts alum Meghan Davis recently placed third at the Mount Washington Road Race and is poised to be in contention on Saturday. 

“Mac looks even fitter than he did last year and Meghan is in phenomenal shape,” Smith said. 

While the two locals will be pushing for medals, there will be plenty of competition around them. Smith says he expects both races to come down to the wire and that both races will be decided down the closing stretch. 

“I think both the men’s and women’s race won’t have a runaway winner,” Smith said. “I could be wrong but I think it’s going to be a close finish in both races which is exciting to watch. I think there’s a high possibility of that happening in both these races.”

Smith says he expects the field of runners will be larger than it was last year. 

Getting a field of over 500 years after the two-year hiatus was a positive, though still down from its record-breaking year in 2019 when 1,300 runners competed. That number is inflated because USA Track and Field Association chose it to be part of its New England Championship Series, and the race typically got between 700-900 runners before COVID. Expect this year to get closer to those pre-COVID numbers. 

“We’re trending higher than last year,” Smith said. “It’s looking like it’ll be lower than 2018 and 2019, with 2019 being the largest field in the race’s history. We’re getting out of that COVID timeframe and I’m hearing from people that they’re taking those vacations and using that free time. Those things are causing the numbers to be lower than I would like but we’re greatly improved from last year.” 

Some small changes that are happening this year is the post-race award party returning to the Blue Rock Restaurant, which they did in 2018 and 2019 but had to change last year because of a volunteer shortage. 

Floodwater Brewing will be giving all 21-plus finishers a free beer while every finisher will receive a free ice cream from Mo’s Fudge Factor. 

The race is benefiting Dial/Self Youth Services in Greenfield. 500 dollars in gift cards from local merchants will be given out in a raffle at the award ceremony. 

“There’s not a lot of changes,” Smith said. “We’re more reintroducing things we had in the race in 2019. Last year was a simplified version of what we’ve done in previous years. We’re bringing back the pieces of the race that people seemed to enjoy. It’s going to be a really good race.” 

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