News

Drenched Legs for Literacy

December 22, 2009
By Charles Mandel

The rain poured and the wind howled and, well, for the Legs for Literacy Marathon in Moncton, it was pretty much business as usual. After hurricane-force winds last year and nasty gusts previously, the weather-challenged race tried to beat Mother Nature and shifted the marathon date to a week earlier - but to no avail.

The night of the race, heavy rains soaked the course - which includes a good portion of trail - and high winds howled constantly on race day. That still didn’t deter some 1,325 hardy runners (out of more than 1,500 registered) from showing up for distances from 5K  up to the full marathon. (Full disclosure: this correspondent was supposed to race the half and went so far as to leave the house near Fredericton at 6 a.m., only to bail at the thought of driving in such poor weather.)

Halifax runner Leah Jabbour, winner of the women’s full marathon and 6th overall with a time of 3:04:20, said strong winds at the start made it difficult to find a consistent pace. While some relief came from tail winds in the mid-portion of the race, the full marathoners found that between the 32K to 38K.mark they were once again battling headwinds. The puddles on the trail were deep enough that it soaked competitors’ shoes and one racer commented they could be competing in an “eco-challenge.” Still, as Jabbour noted, “You have to go in and do the best run you can do on the day.”

Many racers took that advice to heart. Saint John runner Chris Brake won the full in a time of 2:41:59, marking his third win of the year. Brake also boasted wins at this year’s KV Challenge and Marathon by the Sea. Halifax’s Rami Bardeesy easily won the half-marathon in 1:13:13, five minutes ahead of second place. His partner Micheline McWhirter captured the woman’s race in 1:38:18.

Race organizer Marie Wilson says they raised nearly $40,000 for literacy from the race.