SHELBURNE FALLS — Leakey Karoney found a way to stand out in a talented group of runners that competed in the 42nd running of the Bridge of Flowers Classic Road Race on Saturday.
The Springfield resident blazed through the 8-kilometer course in a time of 26 minutes, 6 seconds to capture the overall title.
The 25-year-old came across 23 seconds ahead of runner-up Mac Sloan Anderson of Shelburne Falls (26:29).
“I was running easy,” Karoney said. “It was really nice to win. It was good for me. I came here when I was in college. This is a great course, it’s always good to be here. I enjoy running this race.”
Karoney was one of many runners to return to the race after it took a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. He said he enjoyed the challenge the Bridge of Flowers race presents, as it’s not the normal, flat 8K course runners are used to.
“This race isn’t like other 8K’s,” Karoney said. “It’s a unique course. I was getting ready for another race so I knew if I came here, I’d get a good challenge to prepare for it. The hill is crazy. It prepares you to be stronger mentally. It’s a good test.”
While Karoney was the top finisher overall, it was Annmarie Tuxbury who put herself in the record book on Saturday.
The Newport, R.I. resident was running in the Bridge of Flowers for the first time, and blistered through in a time of 28:47 to finish as the top female finisher.
Tuxbury broke the women’s course record by 13 seconds, besting Aisling Cuffe’s time of 29:00 in 2018.
“This is my first time here,” Tuxbury said. “A friend’s grandparent lives in this town and he’s been telling me to run it. It’s a big race so I wanted to come. I loved the course and town. It feels great to win. I never take a win for granted. I’m just happy.”
Tuxbury was the eighth overall finisher in the race. She got her first experience running up the McCusker Mile, the toughest stretch of the course which is essentially all uphill.
She said running behind longtime friend, Mark Rabasco, helped motivate her to keep going during the most challenging parts of the course.
“I struggled on the hill,” Tuxbury said. “I say I like hills but I struggled on that one. It’s so much more fun coming down it. The person who finished in front of me (Rabasco, who finished seventh), I’ve known for a long time. I was trying to catch him. It was fun.”
Sloan Anderson certainly did the hometown crowd proud during Saturday’s race. The 21-year-old was running the Bridge of Flowers for just the second time, finishing second overall.
“I knew [Karoney], I’ve raced with him before,” Sloan Anderson said. “We were on the same team and I knew I wouldn’t be able to beat him. The plan was to go tempo for the first two miles, then try to run hard up the hill and finish with whatever I had left.”
Sloan Anderson made a play to get close to Karoney on the hill, but was unable to close the gap enough to get past him.
“I started to catch up to him on the hill,” Sloan Anderson said. “The start of the downhill, he looked over his shoulder and I lost all the ground I made up. He’s a great runner.”
The second place finish was certainly no reason to be disappointed. Living right down the street from the race and running the course more times than he can count, Sloan Anderson said he enjoyed getting to compete in his hometown race.
“I’m happy with it,” Sloan Anderson said. “It’s just a fun race. It’s not every race where you get to hear your name shouted the entire way. It’s a huge advantage to be able to wake up and walk to the starting line. Running past family members, it’s a great finish.”
Anna Shields was the second woman to cross the finish line, taking 14th place overall with a time of 30:41.
Shields, from Harwinton, Conn., said she was running the course for the first time and had to adjust to the uphill nature of it.
“It was very tough,” Shields said. “You can’t prepare for the hill. It’s tougher than you think it’s going to be. The second half of the race is fast. I’m glad I didn’t know how hard it was going to be because I just rolled without thinking about it.”
She said she enjoyed her experience, hoping to run it again in the future.
“I’m happy with my time,” Shields said. “It was a really fun race. You get great crowd support and it’s beautiful around here.”
Campton, N.H.’s Justin Freeman took third overall, coming in with a time of 26:42. Rounding out the top 10 male finishers were Andrew Hutchinson of Granby (27:04), Stephen Kerr of Greenfield (28:16), Michael Schlichting of Amherst (28:40), Rabasco of Pittsfield (28:44), Paden Spencer of Brooklyn, N.Y. (29:19), Jacob Barnett of Leverett (29:33) and South Deerfield’s Matt Shamey (29:34).
Following Tuxbury and Shields on the women’s side were Lily Robinson of Tewksbury (30:45), Kylie Cardoso of Amherst (32:05), Kate Edwards of Amherst (32:38), Melissa Hine of Springfield (33:17), Elianna Shwayder of Northampton (33:28), Linda Spooner of Sturbridge (34:15), Miranda Bona of Clarksburg (34:39) and Greenfield’s Marcy Cabanas (35:03).
In the 3K charity run to start the morning, Vincent Gauthier was the top male finisher (11:10) while Audrey Malloy was the top female finisher (13:06).