1,372 runners take part in Legs for Literacy races
Published Monday November 3rd, 2008
31 participants post qualifying times for Boston Marathon
With more runners than ever before, the continued support of hundreds of volunteers and a record amount of money raised, this weekend's eighth annual Legs for Literacy race day was a huge success for Metro Moncton.
Marie Wilson, race director, said final numbers and late registration fees still must be tallied, but all early indications are that they have set a new money record, surpassing last year's event which raised $30,000 for local literacy programs.
"I know we would have surpassed last year, but beyond that I'm not really sure. I'm hoping around $32,000," she said.
The annual event, which began in 2000, features the 42.2 kilometre (26.2 miles) marathon, the 21.2 kilometre (13.2 miles) half-marathon, as well as a 10- kilometre (6.2 miles) and a five-kilometre (3.1 miles) run or walk. All funds raised go towards supporting literacy in the community, with District 1 and District 2 schools being the major recipients.
Of course, on top of being a first-class charity event, the event is also a top-notch athletic competition that sees runners come from all over Atlantic Canada and as far as Texas and Yellowknife to compete. This year, a total of 1,372 runners were registered for all four races, an improvement of over 100 competitors over last year's event.
"Next year, we'll aim for 1,500 registrations and a $35,000 donation to literacy," Wilson said.
The full-marathon course is a sanctioned qualifying event for the prestigious Boston Marathon and 31 runners posted good enough times for their division to qualify, including Hans Laltoo (third overall, 3:08:51) and Micheline Drisdelle (16th overall, 3:23:11), both from Moncton. As the top male and female finishers from New Brunswick, Laltoo and Drisdelle were both also crowned provincial champions.
Other top local performances in the marathon were run by Charles Dixon of Moncton (sixth overall, 3:18:25) and Michel Frenette of Dieppe (12th overall, 3:20:36).
The winner of the marathon, which had 162 finishers, was Leo McCosham of Charlottetown, who ran the event in 2:56:58.
The winner of the half-marathon, which was finished by 513 competitors, was Rami Bardeesy of Halifax, who posted a time of 1:12:34. Bardeesy's time represented a new course record for the event.
Other top New Brunswick finishers in the half marathon were Jean-Guy Gautreau (Dieppe, third overall, 1:23:42), Bernie Doucet (fifth overall, 1:25:45), Justin Young (Saint John, sixth overall, 1:25:56), Marc Doucette (Rogersville, seventh overall, 1:26:01) and Paula Keating (Miramichi, eight overall, 1:26:03).
In the 10-kilometre event the winner was Alex Coffin of Saint John, who finished in 33:41. Coffin, who set the record for the course's marathon event in 2006, bested 346 finishers to take the top spot.
Other top New Brunswick finishers were Jeremie Pellerin (Cocagne, second overall, 35:24), Tony Robinson-Smith (Fredericton, third overall, 38:00), Douglas Jamer (Fredericton, fourth overall, 38:13) and Graham Ereaux (Moncton, sixth overall, 41:35).
In the five-kilometre event the winner in a field of 247 finishers was Tyler Reddy of Dartmouth, with a time of 18:09.
Fredericton's Michael Bone finished second with a time of 18:21. Jocelyn Lockhart (fourth overall, 19:54) and Theophile Theriault (ninth overall, 23:42), both of Moncton, were other top local finishers.
As the event continues to grow, Wilson said she is optimistic about the future of Legs for Literacy. "The feedback I got was that the volunteers out there were fantastic. The wind was a little cold but, otherwise, people loved the event. They thought it was very well organized," she said. "And I'm not taking the credit for myself, this is from a volunteers' perspective. There are 400 volunteers out there helping people and I think the success of the event is because of them."
With a picturesque course that winds its way all across Metro Moncton, there were also a number of street closures, which Wilson said went off without any major incident.
"We also want to let the public know how much we appreciated their patience with the traffic issues and the support out there along the route," she said.
"We know it's not fun to have some of the streets in your neighbourhood closed down, we really appreciated people's patience with that."
Wilson said for next year they will examine the possibility of moving the course route, so as to not disrupt Sunday church services.
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