Maritime Race Weekend adds “Tartan Twosome”

The new kid on the road racing block out east has upped the ante.

Maritime Race Weekend, a collection of races to be held September 14 and 15, has added a ‘Tartan Twosome’ component to their schedule. In addition to running one of the three weekend races (10K, half-marathon or marathon), participants can also run the Costal 5K on the Friday evening and receive “extra swag” for the extra effort. Tartan Twosome runners will get a plethora of gear in their race kit, including short and long-sleeved tech shirts and a third medal for their dual race effort.

Race directors Michelle Kempton and Stacy Chestnutt are looking to put the Halifax area on the map this year with a trio of running events that are aimed at attracting runner-tourism and giving local runners a series of races to call their own.

“In different parts of North America, people travel to the races and even locals travel away to get the big show,” Kempton told the Chronicle-Herald in January during the formal announcement of the new race series. “People go to Toronto for the waterfront race. People go to Boston to get the Boston experience. People go to Vegas for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. People are travelling away from Nova Scotia to race.”

The inaugural Maritime Race Weekend will take place just outside of the city of Halifax along the Eastern Passage area. The various courses will follow the coast line and promise to offer stunning views and fast times.

Kempton and Chestnutt are also organizers of the Sole Sisters women’s 5K in early June, which was advertised as the first ever women’s only 5K race in the Halifax area.

Their second event, the Lucky 7 Relay, will take place on Nov. 18. Each relay team will consist of three runners who each will run 7K.

Kempton and Chestnutt purposefully set-up Maritime Race Weekend as a distinct third Nova Scotian marathon option that would not conflict with other major races in the area. The Bluenose Marathon typically runs in May and the Johnny Miles Marathon takes place each June. “I have nothing negative to say about those marathons,” Kempton told the Herald. “We’ll have ours in the fall so we won’t compete with the Blue Nose or Johnny Miles. When we picked our dates, we made sure it didn’t compete with others.”

The half-marathon and marathon both promise to be scenic, and the 5K and 10K races are flat and fast. They also have 7 a.m. start times in order to avoid any potential heat problems.