Thousands of runners of all ages, backgrounds and fitness levels made their presence known throughout the streets of Halifax over the weekend.
The Blue Nose Marathon, also dubbed ‘the people’s marathon,’ is an annual citywide activity consisting of six running events taking place during the Victoria Day weekend.
Sunday’s races began as runners set their mark near the Emera Oval on Cogswell Street in Halifax and headed toward Dartmouth, before returning back to the outdoor skating rink area to complete the loop.
Jacob Benoit, who finished first in the Goodlife Fitness 10-kilometre run, said the run was a lot of fun despite the windy conditions on Sunday morning.
“I wasn’t expecting a first-place finish, I was hoping to get anywhere under 34 minutes,” he said, mentioning that he ran alongside his sister. “Things worked out for both of us, so we have a cool story to tell.”
He said it was amazing to see such a large turnout of supporters cheering on the athletes throughout the race.
Eileen Benoit, who ran alongside her brother Jacob, said the route was a “little more hilly” than she expected, but said it was nice to hop back into her first road race since the COVID-19 pandemic put things on pause.
She said although her plan was to relax for the first half of the run to preserve energy, her excitement might’ve gotten the best of her.
- Train goes up in flames while rolling through London, Ont. Here’s what we know
- Wrong remains sent to ‘exhausted’ Canadian family after death on Cuba vacation
- Liberals having ‘very good’ budget talks with NDP, says Freeland
- Peel police chief met Sri Lankan officer a court says ‘participated’ in torture
“I paid for it a little bit on the second half, going back into the wind, and up the hills on the bridge,” she said.
Despite a few obstacles along the way, Benoit said she enjoyed herself.
“Finishing on the oval was lots of fun because it’s quick and people are all lined up along the gates … the energy that spectators and other runners brought,” she said when asked what her favourite part of the event was.
For the Benoit siblings, it was their first time participating in the Blue Nose races, but both said they hope to return next year.
On top of the 10K run, other events included two youth runs with lengths of 2K and 4K, a 5K race, a team relay, and a half and full marathon.
David Chukwuka, who completed the half-marathon, which is about 21 km, said he’s never participated in a race this “energy-filled.”
“It was fun seeing the little kids sticking out their hands while (we were) running … it was really good to see a lot of people, very motivating.
“It was amazing, the wind was a little too much coming out of the bridge from Dartmouth, but the rest of the way it was pretty cool.”
Chukwuka said he’ll definitely be back and is already planning to participate in the full marathon next year.
Some temporary full-street closures were in effect for the duration of the run, including Cogswell Street, Agricola Street and the Macdonald Bridge.
Sherri Robbins, executive director for the Blue Nose Marathon, deemed it a “fantastic weekend,” noting there were about 8,000 participants over the two-day span. She said she’s heard many great stories of what it took for some people to make it to the start line and participate.
“The marathon is really a celebration of everybody getting out, being active, fundraising, participating…. We have amazing volunteers that have been helping make this event possible, about 800 volunteers showing up for multiple shifts and putting this all together,” she said.
“We’re a very small team of staff but we have some incredible volunteers that come out and support us each year,” she continued. “Without their support, this wouldn’t be possible.”
Robbins, who’s been involved with the marathon for seven years, said about 60 organizations were involved in the event, with fundraising efforts reaching over $250,000 altogether for a wide array of charitable causes.
After mass-participant events experienced drop-offs in participant numbers due to pandemic restrictions, Robbins said this year’s numbers look close to pre-pandemic levels.
“We were definitely impacted in 2020, we had to move the event to be a virtual event, then in 2021 we hosted the event in the fall and our numbers were down from pre-pandemic,” she said, “but we’re very close to being back to pre-pandemic numbers now, which we’re really happy about.”
Once the marathons wrap up on Sunday afternoon, the weekend’s events will conclude with an after-party at the local Garrison Brewery to celebrate the volunteers and participants.
— with files from Vanessa Wright
Comments