Picton’s Bird Loreto swoops to second place in County Marathon

Picton’s Bird Loreto placed second in the 14th annual County Marathon.

John Bauer, 23, of Hamilton crossed the line first in 2:50

Story and photos by Olivia Timm
Picton’s Bird Loreto was just 10 minutes away from being the first local man to win the County Marathon. Instead, John Bauer, 23, of Hamilton crossed the line first in 2:50, followed by Loreto in 3:00. Gilles Gobeil, of Gatineau, was third across the line a minute later.

Perfect running weather – cool, but sunny – greeted more than 900 runners for the 14th annual event at the starting line in Wellington.

This year’s marathon featured more than 700 runners – up from last years’ 615 – and up to the point of a frantic call for more identification bibs for the runners.

Cheering for Daddy!

Race co-ordinator Tracy Powers said there were so many runners this year the committee was contacting the company that creates the bibs for the runners on Saturday – one day before race day – because they didn’t have enough.

The full marathon, which took off at 8 a.m. from Wellington, had 179 participants – 66 women and 111 men.

The Remax Quinte half marathon, which started later at West Lake, had 446 participants – 270 women and 176 men.

Tim Gillespie, of Kingston, was the first to cross with a time of 1:20. Scott Wilkes, also of Kingston, followed one minute later. Dylan Barlow, of Barrie was third with a time of 1:24.
Gary Boyd, of Wellington, was the first County resident across the line in the half marathon, with a time of 1:28. He placed 10th and was fifth in his category of ages 50-59.

The Hospital Foundation Team Challenge had 21 teams in a relay challenge that saw almost $3,000 raised for the Foundation.

Team Walsh of Belleville, made up of Jeff Walsh, Kasey Walsh, Liam Walsh and Kim Walsh.

The first team to cross the finish line was Team Walsh of Belleville, made up of Jeff Walsh, Kasey Walsh, Liam Walsh and Kim Walsh, who clocked in at 2:58:45.

Freeman’s Winemaking Shop 3:19 (Janet Foran-Goneau, Shane Gale, Madison Oskamp, Michelle Pothier, Lorne Singer) finished second and Its On Fire (Kevin Beatty, Shane Gale, Heather Giffen, Rob Haggarty, Alison Haggarty) crossed the line in third.

One team that returned after participating last year was ‘Sarah and the Others’ – made up of Tim and Julia Johnson and their two daughters, Sarah and Amanda. This was the second County marathon for the two girls, and Julia said the whole family improved their times from last year. The family crossed the line at 3:47:46, beating their record last year by about 12 minutes.

This was Alex Larkin’s first marathon. Danya Slik photo

Prince Edward Collegiate Institute was well represented on the course. The team ‘Go Go Power Runners’ included Britni and Meganne Belisle. Alumni Chelsea Wood, registered from Ottawa, was running the full marathon, and Alex Larkin took part in the half – her first ever marathon.

Larkin said she was happy with her time and once she approached the finish line and was cheered on, she felt the adrenaline pushing her to the end.
For her first marathon experience, she said it was inspiring to see all of the runners, and she enjoyed the marathon course.

Cassandra Elliott

Cassandra Elliott, 19, of Hillier finished her fifth half-marathon – placing 146 out of 446 runners and said she could not be happier.

She started running marathons in Grade 9 and said she has been running them ever since.

This was her fourth time racing in the County marathon, and her fifth half-marathon.

“The course is fast and has a nice route to run by West Lake, and the crowds at the finish is what brings you home after that long six kilometres of hills at the end. I enjoy running this marathon because of the competition, the spectators that are on the course cheering for you – giving that extra push – and I love be able to say I have accomplished another marathon.”

Her next goal is to complete her first full marathon next October.

Volunteers prepped the finish line station with water, snacks and sheets of foil to wrap runners after they crossed.

Volunteer Jeff Reid said there is a lot of emotion in the faces of runners once they cross the finish line.

“We are the first people they get to see when they cross the finish line, so it is really incredible,” he said.

Obs Chicks Natalie Denny, Brenda Lee LaPierre, Channie Lavictoire and Kellie Ranger.

Team Premature Acceleration members Teri Dittmann, Rick Doxtator, Andrew Meyer and Eric Spence.

Adam Macdonald, of Kingston, cheers at the finish line.

Cheering on Dad!