Bridge of Flowers 10K

I've wanted to run the Bridge of Flowers 10K (6.2 miles) in Shelburne Falls, MA for a few years but I'd heard it was hilly and, by the time the race rolled around, I never felt like I was in good enough shape to do it. Since I've now been running regularly for almost 2 1/2 months and have run more than double the distance of the race at one time, I figured this year was my best bet. So off we went.

My parents and my sister Elin got up super early and drove from the other end of the state to meet us in Shelburne Falls before the race started at 9:00am. They hadn't seen us all since Memorial Day so it was good to spend a little time together.

Here's a picture of Larsson and me before the race started. He insisted on being in the picture and is clutching a bouquet of white clover that he picked for my mom. Only Larsson knows why he is making that face.


We were all talking and I didn't realize the race was coming up so quickly. With only a few minutes to spare I ran down to the starting line.

The race starts on a bridge (although not the Bridge of Flowers) and it was crowded with runners. Since I was approaching from the start of the race, I had to fight my way through the pack of runners so that I wouldn't be in the initial group. As it was I still ended up in the first third of the group.

Braman was ready to take my picture at the beginning of the race but my early position so surprised him he could only get me as I passed by.


Due to my spot up front, I was initially almost trampled by all the speedy runners but eventually things settled down and I was surrounded by people running at my own pace.

According to the course description, the first two miles are relatively flat, which seemed mostly true. At several points I paused my audiobook to listen to the musicians who'd set up along different points. The bagpiper was my particular favorite. The course snaked through the village then back to the bridge we'd started on. We crossed the bridge and began the ascent.

I thought that the course was supposed to be hilly but it turns out that there is just one big, massive hill. I've been training on hills around here and thought that I would at least be able to downshift and shuffle up it at my slowest snail pace. But as I approached curve after curve in the steep road, hoping after each one that I'd see a leveling off or maybe even the beginning of the downhill but instead saw that the hill appeared to be neverending, I had to give up on that plan. I ended up running about halfway up the hill and walking quickly up the rest. So many other people were walking (and walking very slowly) that I passed more people when I was walking than when I was running.

I read later in the race program that this hill is "one kilometer in length and sports a daunting 10.5 percent grade of incline, making it one of the most difficult slopes to traverse in all of road racing."

After struggling up the hill, things were literally almost all downhill after that. (And I'm happy to say that my new shoes seem to be doing their job because my toes felt fine!) I enjoyed the cool morning and listening to my book. Here I am crossing the finish line.


I came in 502 out of 540 overall and 101 out of 107 in my age group. My official time was 1:08:13 but I clocked myself on my own watch at 1:08:06. They didn't have Champion Chip timing at this race so they start your time when the first person crosses the starting line instead of when you actually cross it and, since it took me 7 seconds to get to the starting line once the race began I am happy to deduct these from my posted time.

This is called the Bridge of Flowers 10K, so here's a picture of me after the race standing on the actual Bridge of Flowers. The bridge that we started on is in the background.

The whole time was so much fun I may even consider doing it again next year.