B8

DARYL STEEVES
On the run

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This weekend is one of the biggest of the running season with events far and wide.

Sunday, in Grand Falls, it's the Potato Festival 5-kilometre run. This new event has a walk or run option and all proceeds go toward support of local suicide prevention. To get more information contact jacques.dube@mccluretoyota.com. If you are looking for something a little longer, there is another new and novel event Saturday in Amherst. The Cross Border 10-km Challenge is the only run on the calendar that starts in New Brunswick and ends in Nova Scotia. This is really a great idea and Paul Giroux has put a lot of heart and imagination into this one. You can get all the details at http://www.ymcaofcumberland.com/10krace.htm.

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GOING THE DISTANCE: If you are looking for an even longer event, how about the provincial half-marathon championships in Miramichi on Sunday? The Rock and Run Half Marathon is always a great time with plenty of festivities to spruce up the weekend. A provincial championship allows runners to double their Super Series points. If the half is a little too much right now, no problem. Participants can also Rock and Run the 5- or 10-km event. Check it out at http://rockinrun.ca/.

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HALF-MARATHON: To round out the weekend, the Demi Marathon de l'Acadie goes on Sunday as well in Tracadie-Sheila. This half marathon has been run regularly every month since 1987. To learn more contact jmb21km@hotmail.com.

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HOMETOWN FAVOURITE: Last weekend all eyes were on Campbellton for the Dairy Queen 10-km. The winner this year was hometown boy Jason McKenzie in a great time of 39:10. You know he had to be working hard with Bruce Guitard hot on his trail. Calling Point la Nim home these days, Guitard is well known around the province and pushed McKenzie to the very end, finishing just eight seconds behind at 39:18. Although he did the same 10-km, the third-place finisher, Ryan Leblanc, covered a lot more distance, coming all the way from Edmonton to finish third in a time of 41:15.

For the women, it was Lisa Levesque of Charlo in the top spot with a time of 46:12, followed by another Charlo runner, Delores Berube in 48:32. Again the third-place finisher was a big traveller, Jill Parker of Guelph, Ont., in a time of 52:56.

The men's winner for the 5-km was Jeremy Cameron-Huard of Campbellton in a time of 23:30 while the women's event went to Balmoral's Melanie Lanteigne in 29:26.

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SALUTE: And finally a tip of the hat to just a few of the many great performances by southern New Brunswick athletes at the Canada Games Track and Field Trials June 26 in Oromocto. Grace Annear of the Saint John Track Club (SJTC) won the 400-metre in 58:33 and placed third in long jump at 4.68 m. Barry Britt of SJTC (and Georgia State University in the NCAA) took the 1500 m in 4:02.79 and the 5000 m in 15:09.51. Caleb Jones of SJTC was first in javelin with a great toss of 61.07 m for an almost eight-m win. Congratulations to all the participants.

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EPIC EVENT: This week's Person on the Run goes out to reservist Gilles Theriault of Rothesay who is preparing for the gruelling Neijmegan March in Germany later this month. This amazing endurance test has service men and women, as well as civilians from around the world, participating in a four-day event of epic proportion. In full military dress with a 10-kg back pack, Theriault will march 40 km a day for four straight days. Now that's a person on the run. Good luck Gilles.

Gotta run!

Daryl Steeves is the department head of Allied Health at the NBCC Saint John campus. He writes a weekly column throughout the running season. Visit his website at www.ontherun411.com.