RUNNERS OF ALL AGES TAKE PART IN ANNUAL P.E.I. MARATHON.
Chaisson wins third P.E.I Marathon in a row, Spriggs earns first victory
It was a charmed day for Stan Chaisson and Amber Spriggs after the Island natives won the P.E.I. Marathon overall and women’s titles on Sunday.
Chaisson’s third straight marathon crown came in a race-best time of two hours, 34 minutes and 40 seconds, :2:18 off his 2009 record-setting time and 44 seconds faster than last year. Spriggs crossed in 3:11:29, placed first among women and 18th overall, and tallied a new personal best in her first victory.
Chaisson, a former athletic director at Kensington Intermediate-Senior High School, rocketed into the lead from the start of the 15th version of the marathon helped by sunny skies, cool temperatures and a beneficial tailwind and never surrendered it. The Bear River native admitted perhaps it wasn’t the best idea, considering what lurked in the last throws of the race.
“I should have maybe . . . conserved energy for later, but instead went the other way,” Chaisson said. “The Sherwood Road was really a challenge with the hills and headwind. I didn’t know if I had enough energy to finish strong. But I’m happy overall with my second-best time ever.”
Jamie Lamond of Halifax was second in 2:42:21. Third place went to Ian Holdway, also of Halifax, in 2:46:45.
For Spriggs, an RCMP officer who deploys to Regina, Sask., next month, her first marathon win might be her last. The Charlottetown native, who trains with women’s record-holder Jen Nicholson, said it’s a bittersweet win but well worth it.
“I won’t be back for a while. I started running four years ago with Jen, running every morning, training together. I definitely wouldn’t be here without her,” Spriggs said.
Spriggs has been close to the winner’s circle, finishing second last year and third in 2016, but broke through Sunday despite the same huge headwind Chaisson faced.
“You just focus on the effort, don’t look at your watch, don’t get caught up in the numbers,” Spriggs said.
Second on the women’s side was Charlottetown’s Leanne Vessey (3:14:31) while Katelin Barkey of Huntsville, Ont., crossed in third (3:19:21).
Chaisson and Spriggs qualified for the Boston Marathon next April. Chaisson also plans to run in the Chicago International Marathon next October.
In the half marathon, Britney Benoit of Halifax earned the women’s title with a 1:31:02 effort ahead of Maude Bertrand (1:37:46) of Pont-Rouge, Que., and Stratford’s Maureen Peters (1:37:46).
“I’m in shock,” said Benoit, who trains with the Halifax Road Hammers running club. “It was windy out there at first and then coming back into town. A tough headwind and a bit of a climb. “But it was a good day (on the weather) front, couldn’t have asked for much better except maybe a little less wind.” Stratford’s Vincent Merriam won the men’s half marathon in 1:16:22, ahead of Halifax’s Doug Hayami (1:18:12) and Scott Langille (1:20:57) of New Glasgow, N.S.
“It was a great morning for it, a little bit of a westerly wind (that was) pretty strong, especially on the Sherwood Road, but other than that, like on University Avenue, it was awesome,” Merriam said.
He had run the full marathon twice, but never the half marathon. He said it was a couple of degrees cooler on Sunday than his previous entries into the P.E.I. Marathon.