Ethiopia runners in race

St. Patrick's Day may be an Irish holiday, but this year's Holyoke St. Patrick's Road Race will likely have an African flavor to it.

Three elite runners from Ethiopia, all members of New York City's New Flower Athletics, have registered for Saturday's race.

The tough 10K will begin at 1 p.m. on Maple Street before finishing on Hampden Street.

Also, race co-chairmen Mike Zwirko and Mike Tierney said this year's race could be the largest in its rich, 33-year history.

"We could possibly have a record year," Zwirko said. "I notice around Holyoke there are more people running. We could break the 3,000 mark for registration."

With this year's St. Patrick's race not falling on the same day as the New Bedford Half-Marathon, the field could be particularly strong. Premier runners typical sign up the day of the race, so the quality of the field is yet to be determined.

History shows, though, that quality runners from throughout the region will make the trip to Holyoke.

"I think anytime you have a race of our caliber, and the length we've been in existence, it's attractive to runners," Tierney said. "And when we're not competing against another race, and with our price structure, that attracts a lot of runners. We've attracted a lot of good runners of the years."

Male and female winners are awarded $1,000, followed by $650 for second and $450 for third.

Zwirko said the three Ethiopian runners are extremely talented, and could threaten the course records set by John Doherty (28 minutes, 46 seconds in 1993) and Leslie Lehane
"I think (having the foreign runners) certainly brings the race up a notch, and they've been a big part of the race for the last 10 years," Zwirko said. "They like the race. They like coming here. But we never know (who's coming). The communication isn't that great."

Demesse Tesera, 26, will not only compete for first place, but will challenge the 15-year course record. Tesera owns a marathon time of 2:18 and a 10K effort of 28:02.

Firehiwot Tesfaye and Adeba Tola head the women's field. Tola, 31, ran marathon times of 2:35 and 2:40 within the last year; Tesfave, 19, recently ran a 32:58 at a 10K, and 1:12:58 at a half-marathon.

While the Ethiopians may be at the front of the field, the rest of this year's runners could be in the middle of something special as well. Zwirko said, as of last week, more than 2,000 runners had already registered. Also, over the last few years, the race has registered 300-400 runners the day of the race.

"For the past seven years, we've been over 2,600 registered runners," Zwirko said. "It's been consistent. And this extra two weeks, and not falling on the New Bedford race and other races we compete with, it's quite possible we could break 3,000.

"We're a quality race, and people appreciate that. We like to think of ourselves as a runner-friendly race. Everyone seems to have a good time. Hopefully we'll have a big turnout."

The St. Patrick's Road Race set a Western Massachusetts record for the number of finishers (2,579) in 2006. Last year, despite a significant snowstorm the night before, the race drew 1,998 runners.