Plenty of energy with return of Eversource Marathon and Half Marathon

Lisa Spencer celebrates finishing the Hartford Marathon on Saturday in Bushnell Park.

HARTFORD, Oct. 9, 2021 – A year ago, Bushnell Park in Hartford was quiet.

There was an occasional runner going through the park but the thousands of runners that usually fill the park during the second week in October were home thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Saturday, there were thousands of people back in the park for the Eversource Hartford Marathon and Half-Marathon. There were adjustments for COVID with reduced number of runners in the field, staggered starts to try and minimize the crowd of runners, elongated water stations and other modifications.

“I’m happy to be out here, happy to be running,” West Hartford’s David Burnham said after finishing 21st in the half-marathon. “It’s really nice to be here.”

Coventry’s Alex Norstrom, 25, ran his first marathon and won the race by nearly four minutes. Christine Myers of Altamont, N.Y. won the women’s division at the marathon and also won by nearly four minutes.

Terryville’s Tyler Raymond (3022) surged in the final mile to win the half marathon Saturday at the Hartford Marathon and Half Marathon.

In the half-marathon, Terryville’s Tyler Raymond pulled away in the last half mile to win the 13.1 mile race by nine seconds with a time of 1:07.22. A few months earlier, Raymond set a new course record at the Burlington to Collinsville 10K Classic in May, a 6.2 mile race, breaking the record once set by Norstrom.

Raymond used the energy of the crowd to overcome Edward Mulder of Boston with about 200 meters remaining.

“It’s great,” Raymond said. “Everyone is cheering when you’re passing people, even on the Founder’s Bridge (crossing the Connecticut River in Hartford). The last mile everyone was go, go, go. It was awesome.”

There were plenty of people along the race course on Saturday.

“l love (the atmosphere in Hartford),” Raymond said. “It’s always nice to have people cheering you on the whole course. That is why I love running the Hartford Half (Marathon) so much. It makes it easier to run hard. They are always yelling for to get them.”

A group of runners move toward the finish of the half marathon Saturday in Hartford.

In the women’s half-marathon, Barkhamsted’s Annmarie Tuxbury won the race for the second time in three appearances. She won the half marathon in 2018 and was second in 2019.

“It was good,” she said. “Good temperature. Good weather. It was fun to run, especially after missing last year. It was good to be back.

“I did forget how loud it is,” she said with a smile.

Once of the perks of the race is on course entertainment with nearly two dozen DJs, bands and entertainers along the marathon course and another 10 entertainers on the half marathon course. Canton High graduate Geoff Matesky played his solo guitar at the 18-mile mark of the marathon.

Scott Freeman (672), a 61-year-old from Marlbourough, celebrates after finishing his 100th career marathon Saturday at the Hartford Marathon.

In the marathon, the top runner from Simsbury was Annika Hildebrandt, 22, who was 60th overall and sixth in the women’s race with a time of 2:59.52. Unionville’s Rebecca Stephenson was the top runner from Farmington, finishing 80th overall and 11th among the women in 3:06.46.

The top runner from Avon was 37-year-old William Lee, who was 140th with a time of 3:21.05. Simsbury’s Phil Roucoulet, 40, was 147th with a time of 3:22.38.

In the half marathon, former Lewis Mills runner Anna Shields of Harwinton finished third overall.

In the 5K road race, East Granby’s Gavin McConnell was sixth with Simsbury’s Billy Barone taking tenth. In the women’s race, Simsbury’s Zia Siranni was fifth and Avon’s Nora-Paige McFadden was ninth.

Nearly 4,900 runners completed the marathon, half-marathon and 5k road races.

Sisters Lisa Dickens (5333), left, and Kathleen Gray (5334), who both played field hockey at Avon High in their high school days, successfully ran the half marathon Saturday. Dickens lives in Loveland, Colorado while Gray lives in Wallingford.

2021 Eversource Hartford Marathon and Half-Marathon
At Hartford
Marathon (26.2 miles)
Top 10 overall: Alex Norstrom, Coventry, 2:20.40, 2. Jason Ayr, Philadelphia, 2:23.07, 3. Andrew McCann, Westerly RI, 2:24.06, 4. Everett Hackett, Hartford, 2:26.35, 5. Antonio Wilson, Everett, MA 2:27.44: 6, Erik McCarthy, Old Town, ME, 2:31.22, 7. Mark Hegarty, Springfield, 2:32.12, 8. Ben Lanza, Middletown, 2:33.11, 9. Tommy O’Gorman, West Hartford, 2:34.40, 10. Kyle Coffee, Somerville, MA, 2:26.13

Top 10 women: Christine Myers, Altamont, NY 2:48.32, 2. Jenna Gigliotti, Amherst, MA 2:52.11, 3. Lauren Ross, Portland, OR 2:52.18, 4. Shayna Barbash, Missoula, MT 2:53.35, 5. Amanda Moore, Mesa AZ, 2:56.52; 6. Annika Hildebrandt, Simsbury, 2:59.52, 7. Lauren Ames, Southborough MA, 3:01.32, 8. Abigail Shoemaker, New York, NY 3:01.42, 9. Margaret Boudreau, Wilton, 3:01.59, 10. Mary Alex Zickefoose, Southbury, 3:04.44

Half Marathon (13.1 miles)
Top 10 overall: Tyler Raymond, Terryville, 1:07.22, 2. Edward Mulder, Boston, 1:07.31, 3. Dan Vassallo, Peabody, MA, 1:08.06, 4. Robert Piotto, Glastonbury, 1:08.56, 5. Matthew Walker, Newington, 1:09.06, 6. Keith McAteer, Westerly RI 1:09.31, 7. Jack Duckworth, New Haven, 1:10.02, 8. Michael McGonnigle, Hartford, 1:10.10, 9. Matthew Connor, Rocky Hill, 1:11.19, 10. Mario Vasquez, New Britain, 1:11.23

Top 10 women: Annemarie Tuxbury, Barkhamsted 1:13.45, 2. Chelsea Benson, Itacha NY 1:18.13, 3. Anna Shields, Harwinton, 1:18.23, 4. Jessica Chichester, NYC, 18:56, 5. Carolyn Nye, Essex, 1:19.27, 6. Morgan Lingar, NYC, 1:19.41, 7. Sarah Sibert, NYC, 1:20.42, 8. Karolyn Bowley, Middletown RI 1:21.10, 9. Julie Rembold, Lucas TX, 1:22.59, 10. Khla Kurtenach, NYC 1:23.45

5K road race (3.1 miles)
Top 10 overall: Chris Helminski, Mystic, 15:22, 2. John Amenta, Fishkill NY 15:30, 3. Brandon Leclair, Torrington, 16:07, 4. Andrew Jarombek, Greenwich, 16:14, 5. Gregory Schroeder, Westbrook ME, 17:50, 6. Gavin McConnell, East Granby, 18:08, 7. Mike Riordan, Manchester, 18:16, 8. Moe Torres, Hartford 18:21, 9. Luke Unglo Roswell, GA 18:30, 10. Billy Barone, Simsbury, 18:39

Top 10 women: Joseph Jacob-Dolan, New Haven 18:27, 2. Brittany Telke, Bristol, 18:50, 3. Kristin Waters, New Haven 20:50, 4. Riandra Van DerLinde, Aruba, 21:22, 5. Zia Siranni, Simsbury, 21:24, 6. Courtney Johnson, Rocky Hill 21:28, 7. Cayman Barnes, Lawrence, KS, 21:27, 8. Emily Zuckerman, Wallingford, 21:59, 9. Nora-Paige McFaddem, Avon, 22:12. 10. Linda Cordova, Hamden, 22:34

Race results: 2021 Hartford Marathon and Half Marathon

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