Alex and Angie Norstrom won the men’s and women’s marathon titles last year at the Eversource Hartford Marathon as an engaged couple.
They were married in July but this weekend, they are splitting up: Alex, a three-time Hartford Marathon winner, will run the marathon again, while Angie competes in the half marathon.
The Norstroms, who live in Glastonbury, are looking forward to Saturday’s races, which start at 8 a.m. at Bushnell Park. The marathon, half marathon, marathon relay and 5K are all sold out with a 9,000 runners expected in Hartford Saturday.
“I think she’s happy doing different stuff, whereas I am more of a one-trick pony when it comes to what I do nowadays,” said Alex, 29, who is also Angie’s coach. “I’ve had a lot more success at the marathon than anything else and I enjoy it and I enjoy training for it.”
Last year was Angie’s first marathon. She finished in 2 hours, 38 minutes, 9 seconds. Alex won the men’s race in 2:17:56.
Angelia Rafter, of Glastonbury, wins the women’s division at the Hartford Marathon, Hartford, Saturday, October 19, 2024. Rafter won with a time of 2:38.09 running her first marathon. Her finance, Alex Norstrom, was the race winner. Photo by Cloe Poisson
“It’s one of my favorite memories,” Angie said. “The finish line was overwhelming. I was completely out of it. That last mile, someone was on a bike next to me and told me Alex won.
“I was going through the hardest mile, the last one and I completely fell apart. Just hearing Alex won and knowing I was in contention to win was such an incredible feeling that literally got me to the finish line.”
Alex, who grew up in Coventry, also won the race in 2021 and ’23.
“That was like nothing else I’ve ever experienced because it goes beyond just yourself,” Alex said. “The day was more about not myself but us. And that’s just special. Not many people can relate to that.”
Angie, 26, also won the 5K in Hartford in 2022.
“I’ve been lucky enough to do the 5K and the full, so now I just feel like I have to do the half,” she said. “When Alex said no to the full (this year), I agreed. I had such a great experience with the full for a bunch of different reasons.
“But I have so many different distances I’m unhappy with my times in and I want to continue to work on the shorter distance races still.”
The Norstroms met when they ran at Central Connecticut. Angie holds seven CCSU school records, from the 800 to the 10,000 meters. Alex ran in the Olympic Marathon Trials last year, qualifying with a personal best of 2:16:52, his winning time in Hartford in 2023.
Alex has run alone for much of the 26.2-mile race each year. He is training for a fast marathon in December in Arizona and is a little unsure what his strategy will be Saturday.
Alex Norstrom, of Glastonbury, flashes a three as he notches his third win at the Hartford Marathon with a time of 2:17.56 Hartford, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. Norstrom was the winner in 2021 and 2023. Photo by Cloe Poisson
“I’m excited about the shape I’m in,” he said. “I’m going to make the decision what I want to do pacewise when the gun goes off. I might try to break my PR. I might try to sit in the pack and see what happens. I’m excited about what could happen.
“I’m leaning toward running a quicker pace because I’m feeling really good. I’ve been training hard for a while so I might as well take the opportunity to see what I can do.”
He is not concerned about running another faster marathon in a little over two months.
“I’ve geared my training to be able to recover from a marathon effort,” Alex said. “I ran 26.2 (miles) on the back South Windsor part of the course two weeks ago and it was pretty solid. I was fine the next day. That’s a testament to the training I’ve been doing.
“I’m confident going into this weekend I can still run fast, recover and continue on with my training for December.”
