More than 1200 runners pounded the pavement for more than 24 hours during the Cabot Trail Relay this weekend.
Dan Vassallo was welcomed by fellow runners and fans, as he was the first to cross the finish line at the relay.
His team, ‘The Maine-iacs’ won the race for the 5th straight year.
“Everybody is here, it’s great,” exclaims Vassallo. I’m from pretty close to Boston and this is pretty much the Boston Marathon, just a little bit farther North and a team aspect of it.”
The 28th edition of the marathon included 70 teams from across Canada and the United States, all competing for top spot.
But this race is not entirely focused on winning, just ask members of ‘The Miramichi Lucky Charms.’
“Oh my God, the atmosphere, and the cheering,” exclaims runner Arlene Donaher. “I so enjoy it. It’s amazing, it really is!”
It’s a tradition for many teams to dress in different costumes, a team from Halifax decided to go with a Scottish theme and wear kilts.
“When I was in Scotland, I ran in a number of marathons,” explains runner David Glover, “but I never really got involved with a relay of this kind. It runs 24 hours, it doesn’t stop and runs all the way through the night, and that just sounds crazy for a lot of people. We’ve been here for 10 years and it just seems to get better and better.”
The race is 276 kilometres long and has 17 stages.
It began Saturday at the Gaelic College in St. Anne’s and is wrapping up more than 24 hours later in downtown Baddeck.
“It’s extremely challenging,” says David Parkinson, organizing chair. “I tell the new runners that are coming to this is, if you can’t run 10km in your sleep then you’re going to have a hard time on the Cabot Trail because every single leg has hills in it. So there’s no end of the difficulty.”
The Cabot Trail Relay is so popular organizers have to hold a draw for teams to compete, and competitors say they’re already looking forward to the relay next year.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kyle Moore.
