St. Patrick’s Road Race veteran loves day’s atmosphere

Runners are off at 1 p.m. Saturday

By G eorge L enker

Special to The Republican

THE 46TH RUNNING of the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Road Race will be held on Saturday and Westfield’s Michael Brunelle, 52, has run a majority of them — at least 30.

“I first started running the race in high school. Our track coach, Paul Whitlock, suggested we run it. Turns out it wasn’t really a suggestion,” he said. “My first time out was a struggle. I wasn’t used to distances that long. Went out way too hard and blew up.”

Committee

watching from home. WWLP is the official partner of the committee, and this year will be no different. You can watch it on WWLP Channel 22, and it also will be livestreamed on WWLP.com. But honestly, an in-person experience is the best if you can!

We must also remember the hard work that the Holyoke Police and Auxiliary Police Departments, Massachusetts State Police, Holyoke Department of Public Works, the Holyoke Medical Center, the Holyoke Fire Department, and the Holyoke Gas & Electric put out during this time to keep us running and safe, not only parade weekend but all year round. They have a tough job, and I am thankful for their support. Mayor Joshua Garcia and the Holyoke City Council also make our events a success with their support; we are so thankful to them as well. Everyone behind the scenes as well, we thank you!

Our success also stems from the generosity of our sponsors,

Lining up for the annual 10K race begins at 10:45 a.m. at the intersection of Hampden and Walnut streets. The race itself starts at 1 p.m.

Brunelle can’t remember missing a year and says, “I’ve run it in snow, rain, heat, and beautiful spring days. The years that it was canceled due to COVID, we ran the course, of course!”

Brunelle’s best year was probably 2008 or 2009 — before his daughter was born.

“I trained that year with Dan Brown, the meteorologist.

More than 4,000 runners and walkers turn out for a previous St. Patrick’s Road Race in Holyoke. The 46th edition of the race is scheduled to take place starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

173 High Street, Holyoke, MA ST. PATRICK’S DAY WEEK

Wednesday, March 15th

NUTRL Promo 6pm

Thursday, March 16th

Weekend Kick-Off!

Outside Heated Tent Hoop Tea Sampling 6pm

Darik & The Funbags @ 8pm Deep Eddy Vodkas

Friday, March 17th

Outside Heated Tent Cutwater & Loophole which makes this all possible, through television, marching bands, beautiful floats, etc., throughout the parade, we could not get down the street without them, and so thankful to the many business owners who must tolerate interruption throughout the weekend. Please be sure to see all that Holyoke has to offer and support them all year!

We could not do any of this without all of our sponsors, including PeoplesBank, who is a major sponsor of the entire weekend; we can’t thank them enough.

On behalf of the entire St. Patrick’s Committee of Holyoke, I thank you for your constant and ongoing support. Please come out and enjoy all the festivities we have; you won’t want to miss a thing!

Karen M. Casey is the 2023 president of the St. Patrick’s Committee of Holyoke.

Sampling & Giveaways! The Boston Blackthornes @ 5pm followed by The E Street Shuffle

Tribute to Bruce from Asbury Park, NJ!

Irish Whiskey & Jack Daniel’s Apple

Saturday, March 18th

Outside Heated Tent Race Day Finish Line Party! Union Jack