Record day for the Valley Harvest Marathon in N.S.
It was a record breaking year at the 32nd annual Valley Harvest Marathon in Wolfville, N.S., on Saturday and Sunday.
Sherri Robbins is the executive director of the Valley Harvest Marathon. She said the event was a sold-out success that drew record numbers of racers and attendees.
“This is a record year for us this year,” Robbins said. “Starting yesterday with our youth run, right through to today we have record numbers in all of our distances.”
Participants chose different race lengths. In addition to the traditional marathon (26.2 miles or 42.2 km) runners could opt for several distances from 5 km to the 50 km ultra-marathon length.
Marc LeClaire ran 10 km. He said the marathon has become a Thanksgiving tradition.
“I usually try to do one fall run, whether that’s the PEI marathon or other marathons in the region or around the world,” LeClaire said. “This is always a fun one to do though and a good thing to do before Thanksgiving dinner.”
Madalyn Higgins won first-place in the women’s half marathon. She said it was a special race for her since she used to run for Acadia University. She said she used the Valley Harvest Marathon to prepare for her big race in the spring.
“I am going to run my second marathon, the Boston marathon in the spring, and that is going to be a big one,” Higgins said.
Not everyone did the marathon to compete, but for those who did, there were plenty of winner categories.
“We have first, second and third for all our races, male, female and our nonbinary participants. Then top place finishers and then we also have age category awards,” said Robbins
Aaron and Kelly Campbell were among the 200 volunteers helping with the marathon.
“It’s important to show our children how to support the community and help build communities,” said Kelly.
Tanya Surette ran the 10 km race last year. This time she brought her daughter Alice, who joined her for the 5 km run.
“She did so well. I’m so proud of her. She actually pushed my pace, and I was faster with her,” said Tanya.
Steve Hayson said he ran the half marathon in memory of Johnny Gaudreau, the professional hockey player who died with his brother in a collision with a motor vehicle while they were riding bicycles in New Jersey in August.
“I decided to wear Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey that he gave me while I was in Calgary and signed the back of it and dedicate this race to him and his brother,” said Hayson.
Everyone who crossed the finish line at the Valley Harvest Marathon received a medal to take home.
