The 39th St. Patrick’s Road Race is less than 24 hours away now. The big question remains: who will be headed out to Holyoke, MA to compete this year?

Looking at last year’s results, all we can do is speculate. Alistair Cragg won last year in 29:20, but as of the latest we’ve heard he hasn’t committed this year. But, he is nearby and can easily show up morning of to show everybody what’s up. Unfortunately we have learned that last year’s runner up, Philemon Terer, will not be making an appearance. Bob Rosen let us know that he’s currently back home in Kenya and focusing on training and overcoming a lower leg injury he suffered during an intense period of training last fall. Too bad we won’t get to see him compete up close again this time. In the Quad Cities Marathon last year Philemon ran a 2:14 and shattered the old course record. I’m sure we’ll be hearing of him in the future.

Zach Hine finished third, but again no commitment there and since he’d be coming from CO it’s hard to imagine that he’d make the trip last minute. You never know.

We do know that there will be some wolves on the loose in Holyoke. Kevin Johnson, Brian Fuller and Kevin Quadrozzi will all be there representing the Western Mass Distance Project. This race is on their turf and from what we’ve heard, wolves can be very territorial. If you decide to run from them, be prepared to run quickly and all the way through the line.

For the ladies, alas, we can only speculate about Amy Hastings as well. Amy dominated last year while running a 33:32. Like Alistair, she’s based in RI and could easily show up morning of. Kim Smith flew under the radar and surprised many people by showing up to New Bedford at the last minute. Would not be surprised to see something similar here from any one of the many elites in the area. Again, that’s all speculation though.

We do know one thing: it’s going to be big, it’s going to be fast and it’s worth checking out. See you in Holyoke! And be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram since we’ll be on the back of the lead truck and covering it live.