FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fundy Marathon Gains Boston-Qualifier Status
The first Bay of Fundy International Marathon, set for Lubec, Maine, and
Campobello Island, New Brunswick, on June 23, will be a qualifying race for
the 2014 Boston Marathon.
That was achieved earlier this month when the Fundy Marathon's paperwork
for course measurement and certification was accepted by the national body
for long-distance running, U.S.A. Track and Field. The same paperwork
details were accepted by Athletics Canada for similar certification in
Canada.
The Fundy Marathon is a new, two-country marathon that twice crosses the
U.S.-Canadian border at Lubec, Maine. It starts at the West Quoddy
Lighthouse in Lubec, goes up to the East Quoddy Lighthouse on New
Brunswick's Campobello Island, and returns to finish on Lubec's waterfront.
With an estimated 850 marathons across the country taking place in 2012,
according to the industry group Running USA, most marathoners choose races
with Boston Marathon-qualifying courses. Considered the world's most
exclusive marathon, the Boston Marathon is the only U.S. marathon that
maintains strict qualifying times and requirements by age-groups.
To properly measure the course, Fundy Marathon director John Hough spent
portions of several days with a team of volunteers as they covered the
Lubec-Campobello course on bicycles to a precise 26.2 miles -- twice, per
certification rules. Clare Frenc, Curtis Iden and Dennis Corso, all members
of the race's organizing committee, assisted Hough in the task on the best
spring days April could offer.
"A huge thank you goes to all the people of Campobello and Lubec who have
put up with us delaying traffic on the roads for the last month or so,"
Hough said. "We also thank the staff of the Canada and USA border posts at
the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge who, I think, found our repeated bicycle
antics rather amusing."
Already more than 430 marathoners from 36 states, Washington, D.C., six
provinces and Uruguay have registered for the marathon, which has a June 7
deadline for signing up. The event also has 180 more entering the
same-morning 10K race, which takes place entirely within Lubec. Deadline
for registering for the 10K is June 22.
For more information, please call (207) 619-1887. Also see the website
www.bayoffundymarathon.com, or search Facebook for Bay of
Fundy International Marathon and 10K.
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