Glastonbury’s Alex Norstrom wins Eversource Hartford Marathon, qualifies for Olympic Trials

HARTFORD – Alex Norstrom had a rough winter. He was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the sacrum, the bone at the base of his spine, and he could barely walk, never mind run.

But he healed and there were two months before the Jersey City Marathon in May so he trained for it and finished in 2:20 but he wasn’t thrilled.

This summer, he didn’t race, just devoted himself to his training, aiming for the 30th Eversource Hartford Marathon, which he won in 2021 in 2:20. The memories of the long winter faded quickly.

So when Norstrom, 27, of Glastonbury found himself on the start line at Hartford Saturday morning, he was in the best shape ever. The weather was perfect for a PR – temperatures in the high 40s-low 50s and overcast.

And he ran his best race ever, winning Hartford for the second time in as many tries in a personal best 2:16:52, which qualified him for the Olympic Marathon Trials Feb. 3 in Orlando.

“I’ve never trained that good, not even close,” Norstrom said. “I’ve been running 130-140 miles a week. Everything’s gone really good.”

But he wasn’t thinking about the trials qualifying time of 2:18.

“I knew I was in that (kind of) shape,” he said. “But it wasn’t on my mind too much.”

Norstrom ran alone most of the race. Kiplangat Terer of Amherst, Mass. was second (2:21:46) and Spencer Bossi-Johnson of San Diego was third (2:22:56). Last year’s winner, Everett Hackett of Hartford, finished 14th in 2:33:24.

Jenna Gigliotti of Amherst, Mass. won the women’s marathon in 2:44:08 after finishing second the last two years. Jacqueline Solimine of Derry, N.H. was second (2:48:35) and Olivia Mondo of Manchester was third (2:54:22).

“My training went better,” said Gigliotti, 30. “And it’s my third marathon, so each marathon, I learned a little bit more.”

About 8,000 runners converged in downtown Hartford Saturday morning for the marathon, half marathon, 5K and marathon relay.

Ethan Hermann, 23, of Philadelphia, the men’s half marathon winner, had COVID two weeks ago and wasn’t sure how the race would go Saturday. Not only did he win, he ran a personal best of 1:04:52.

“I’ve won some smaller races before, but nothing of this size,” said Hermann, who is training for his first marathon, the Philadelphia Marathon, in late November. “I wasn’t sure if this was the right move (to run Saturday) but my coach told me to give it a go. I felt good.”

Regan Rome of Providence won the women’s half in 1:13:49. Last year, she finished second in the half but the course was different this year.

“The course was very challenging,” said Rome, 23. “It’s a very hilly course. I honestly thought it would be the first half but it kind of went the whole way. I thought it would get easier but it never really did.”

Having said that, Rome said she appreciated the support of residents who cheered the runners on.

“Honestly, this race is so much fun, the atmosphere is great,” Rome said.

Her next big race is the Olympic Marathon Trials. Rome qualified with a 2:36 last December at California International Marathon and she lowered her time to 2:35 at Grandma’s Marathon in Minnesota in June.

Amruth Niranjan of West Hartford finished fifth in the 5K last year; this year, he won in 15:20.

Niranjan, 19, is a junior at Boston University, where he runs with the school’s running club. He started running at Hall High. It was his first big win.

“Maybe I won some JV race in high school,” he said. “This is like the first time an official big race. It feels good.”

Farmington’s Vazquez is the top master

Mario Vazquez of Farmington is 44 years old. Last year, he finished Hartford in 2:45. This year, he was eighth overall in 2:27:08. “I ran this last year,” he said. “I hit the wall at Mile 20-21. I didn’t do the nutrition part, I didn’t train right. Every single night for the past year, I was thinking about coming back to finish strong. This is my fifth marathon and I finally got to run through there with a smile on my face.” … Scott Kline of Dallas finished his 50th state marathon in 5:00:30. … Andrew Bartlett of Windsor and Robert Kopac of Shelton are the only two runners to complete the marathon for all 30 years. Bartlett finished in 4:26:15, Kopac in 5:10:23.