As a reminder, we’re always looking for suggestions and recommendations on people/stories we should be featuring in our series, Running Club Franklin County.
Do you have any tips? Send us your running stories to sports@recorder.com, and they may be included in this space.
Without further adieu, here’s Volume 13 where we talk about the early days of one of the biggest races in Western Massachusetts.
Mike McCusker was a member of the steering committee when the town of Buckland approached its bicentennial celebration in 1979.
As McCusker held a background in leisure studies and resources, he was well-versed in organizing sporting events. He envisioned himself one day as a YMCA director, in fact.
To bolster the activity list for the town’s upcoming celebration, McCusker suggested a race.
“I thought, ‘Let’s bring some of that understanding to my hometown,’” he recalled.
It was an ambitious endeavor for McCusker. Still in his 20’s at the time, he took his brothers on a run, heading up Bray Road toward the Buckland State Forest. It was a difficult jaunt, and when the crew returned to town, McCusker knew he wanted to make that the course.
“They’re looking at me like, ‘You’re not serious about that, right?’” McCusker recalled with a laugh. “The buzz everywhere for races back then was, you should try and find a course that’s fast and flat. That’s what everyone is doing, fast and flat courses.
“Well, you can’t run a course out of Shelburne Falls that’s fast and flat,” he continued. “Besides, there are plenty of events like that out there. If you want to run something notable, run Shelburne Falls.”
And thus, the Bridge of Flowers Race was hatched. Eventually, New England Runner Magazine would suggest that the course was the toughest 10K in the Northeast, music to McCusker’s ears, but what started as a humble race with around 100 runners has morphed into one steeped in tradition due to its longevity and vibrant atmosphere.
“People don’t come to run their fastest time. They come here to run because it’s challenging,” he said.
McCusker was director of the race from its inception until retiring from that post in 2016. While this August would mark the 42nd edition of the event, that running is in doubt due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The inaugural run in 1979 was actually the only time McCusker ran the race himself, mostly to make sure runners found their way along the course, he said. That first year saw the race course take competitors up North Street and down Crittenden Hill, though that changed almost immediately when runners determined that running up the famed hill was actually preferable to moving down its steep grade. It’s now the signature portion of the event, as runners do their best to keep enough momentum in order to climb the unforgiving terrain that presents problems for even the most sure-fire automobile.
The Bridge of Flowers 10K eventually moved into the 500-600 participant range, jockeying for position among the biggest in Western Massachusetts. There was a spaghetti feast and other notable amenities early on that helped grow the event, and when it was selected as part of the U.S. Track & Field New England Championship race series in 1996, people throughout the region really took notice.
“The first year we got that, people from the Boston running clubs were coming over our way to compete so that really helped it grow,” McCusker said. “They entered the race and were like, ‘Where the heck am I?’”
The race has withstood the test of time thanks to a variety of reasons. While many popular events have since gone by the wayside, the location has always been the star of the show here. The race begins and ends in downtown Shelburne Falls, and runners cruise back through town along the way. Participants cross the Iron Bridge just before the finish line in a picturesque setting.
“The figure-eight thing is highly irregular,” said McCusker. “People love the setup of the race. You can watch the start and the finish, watch runners go up the hill with bobbing heads everywhere, then 20 minutes later, they’re coming by you again. The community has embraced the race for so many years. The fortitude has always been here for sticking with it.”
One of the charms associated with the race comes in the form of the T-shirt contest. Local artists have designed the logo for the shirts for decades, and runners throughout Franklin County have acquired an impressive collection during that time.
McCusker passed the baton of the race to others when he retired from directing duties in 2016, something he said was important to the long-term sustainability of the event.
“What can we do so the race will continue beyond me? I had the strategy for succession in my mind for about 10 years,” he said. “Not that I wanted to leave necessarily, but there are benefits to the community to have younger leadership involved. What is happening with a different generation at the helm is far more beneficial than me trying to keep my nose in it.”
At the age of 70, McCusker said running is still very much a part of his life, though he’s also on his bike quite often and mixes in plenty of yoga. While he does most of his running alone, it has proven to be an activity that has kept him connected to friends for some five decades.
“Running is largely a solo event,” he began. “I like that, the down and quiet time, but I also appreciate there are other people who feel and think like I do and run for similar reasons. You know you have something that’s serious to you and likely to other people as well, so you have that in common. So to share that with people on group runs, or do it by myself, there’s always something I enjoy from it.”
And while it’s been over 40 years since his lone appearance in the Bridge of Flowers, that could change one of these years. If he’s going to make a triumphant return however, he wants to go all in.
“There have been a few years that I thought I was going to run it but I couldn’t because of injury or whatever,” he said. “But I’m very interested in running it and running competitively for my age group.”