Udvadia comes home first
New dad men’s winner; women led by Bertasso-Hughes
ALBANY — Likely for the first time in several weeks, Ryan Udvadia got a full night’s sleep.
Then, the new father surged to an impressive victory in Saturday’s Helderberg to Hudson Half Marathon.
“Last night, my wife, she took all the night shifts,” said Udvadia, whose wife Cara Udvadia and 4-week-old son Louis were among the crowd at the finish line at Jennings Landing at Corning Preserve. “We usually take turns feeding him and changing his diaper during the middle of the night — but I got a nice break last night, so I owe her one for that.”
Ryan Udvadia set a personal record with his mark of 1:05:31 in winning the men’s race, while Karen Bertasso-Hughes also set a personal record with her time of 1:17:07 in winning the women’s race. In all, 1,861 runners participated in the event, which ARE Event Productions started in 2019.
Saturday’s race was Udvadia’s first since becoming a dad. The 27-year-old from Clifton Park had won the Runnin’ of the Green 5K on March 16 at Schalmont High School in Rotterdam, but the post-race celebration didn’t last long.
“We had to leave the race right away to get to the hospital because it was time,” said Udvadia, a Long Island native whose son was born March 17, several weeks ahead of schedule.
The due date for Louis was this past Wednesday, so Udvadia hadn’t initially signed up for Saturday’s 13.1-mile race, which started at Wallace Town Park in New Scotland. He took 10 days off from training after his son’s birth, felt better than expected when he resumed running and signed up for this weekend’s race with encouragement from his wife.
“We figured he should just go for it,” Cara Udvadia said. “I
wasn’t sure how he would do today, but I thought he was still in pretty good shape.”
Both of Louis’ parents are champion runners. Each starred at the University at Albany, and have continued to compete — and win — as two of the Capital Region’s top runners. While Ryan Udvadia returned to competition Saturday, Cara Udvadia said she went out Friday for her first run since giving birth.
“I’ll take it slow, getting back into it, for sure,” said Cara Udvadia, a Rotterdam native who ran for her father Bill Sherman at Mohonasen High School. “I’ll just run every other day for a while, but I’m hoping that by … the summer’s races, I’ll be ready to race.”
A member of the Capital Region Elite Women (CREW) running team, she said it was a different type of experience to watch rather than participate in a race.
“It was a lot of fun,” she
said. “It made me a little bit jealous to see everyone having a good time racing, but it was super fun because I got to see all my teammates on CREW — and Ryan, obviously. It was great to cheer for all of them and see the race.”
One of those CREW teammates is BertassoHughes, a Scotia-Glenville High School and Union College
graduate who lives in South Bethlehem. Rachel Schilkowsky, of Providence, R.I., had set the women’s event record last year with a time of 1:16:50, and BertassoHughes was on pace to better that mark through the majority of Saturday’s race. She had to recalibrate her expectations late in the competition, though, as her body didn’t fully cooperate.
“It’s about readjusting your goals and kind of reframing. Knowing that I was going after the course record — and it was right there in front of me, and it was so close — but then, OK, if I start puking and have to stop, then I may not even finish,” BertassoHughes said. “It’s better to slow down, still get the win, still get a PR.”
All in all, BertassoHughes was pleased with her performance.
“This is my last race as an open runner, and that I’m still going after PRs — and still can PR at 39 — is pretty motivating,” said BertassoHughes, who turns 40 years old later this spring. “And there’s a ton of masters women right now that are running amazing, so it’s
really motivating to see that.”
In the women’s field, Amy O’Sullivan of Greenfield took second place at 1:18:46 and Tricia Longo of Waterford was third at 1:19:15.
In the men’s race, Ryan Udvadia pulled away late from second-place finisher James Withers of Utica, who finished in 1:05:42. Third place went to Sean McAneny of Albany at 1:06:39.
“We did a good job of taking turns, kind of pacing each other, really up until about mile 13,” Udvadia said of his matchup with Withers. “Then, I kind of took off. I knew that was my only shot at trying to get by him … because I did try picking up the pace earlier, but he responded to that.”
With the race behind him, Ryan Udvadia laughed as he said that he “probably won’t sleep tonight” to make up some extra shifts with Louis — but mom said that wouldn’t be the case.
“He’ll have to pay me back some time,” Cara Udvadia said, “but I’ll save that.”