Festive return
Runners and spectators celebrate Eversource Hartford Marathon with cheers
AHARTFORD — nn Larson of Hayward, Wisconsin held two signs at the Eversource Hartford Marathon on Saturday: “Go Alex,” to cheer on her 26-year-old son of Manchester, and “There’s a beer waiting 4 U!” for husband, George, 56.
The Larson men were among thousands of runners from Connecticut and across the nation taking part in 5K, half marathon, half marathon relay and marathon races that started outside the state Capitol building and finished under the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Arch at Bushnell Park.
Music pumped on Capitol Avenue as runners filled the street in “corrals” corresponding to staggered start times. The weather was nice, with feathery clouds and no threat of rain.
After a state trooper sang the national anthem, Mayor Luke Bronin
shouted into a mic, “Good morning, Hartford!” welcoming runners back to the city after a year’s hiatus due to the COVID19 pandemic.
Coventry’s Alex Norstrom won the men’s marathon in 2 hours, 20 minutes, 40 seconds. Christine Myers of Altamont, New York was the women’s winner in 2:48:34.
Among the spectators were Sarah Reinold of Middlebury, with her two children, Theo, 5, and Louisa, 6, all three wearing hand-written T-shirts cheering on runner dad, Andrew Reinold, 38. On the other side of the street, a spectator held a sign, “May the course be with you.”
Announcer Ken Shluger, whose wife, Beth, is the marathon director, gave a 30-second warning as the first wave of runners hopped and raised their hands. Then, with the blare of an air horn, the section was off in a mass of multi-colored T-shirts, tank tops and costumes. The second section started soon after, one runner in a T-Rex outfit capering along in the rear.
Tents filled Bushnell Park offering food, freebies and even flu shots. The finishing stretch near the Arch was lined with red, pink, lavender and yellow mums. The announcer there exhorted cheers and “More cowbell!” from the many spectators lining the last stretch. Volunteers greeted huffing, sweating finishers with water bottles and space blankets. A few staggering, limping runners needed assistance from volunteers and EMTs.
Terryville’s Tyler Raymond won the men’s half marathon in 1:07:22. Barkhamsted’s Annmarie Tuxbury, an Olympic marathon trial qualifier, won the women’s half in 1:13:45. Mystic’s Chris Helminski won the men’s 5K in 15:22, and New Haven’s Josephine JacobDolan won the women’s 5K in 18:27.
Haley Hanenbaum, 25, who finished the half-marathon at 1:46.44, shouted to her mom, Helaine, that it was her best time ever.
“I’m waiting for my husband now — make sure he’s still alive, “Helaine Hanenbaum of West Hartford joked.
Haley and her dad, Barry Hanenbaum, have been running together since Haley was a little kid trying to keep up. She came around barriers to stand with her mother, waited for her father to finish and tracking his progress on a cellphone app. Mother and daughter cheered loudly as dad passed through the Arch and across the finish line at about 2:22.