The Caribou Marathon, Half Marathon, Handcycle Races, Relay Races and Kids Marathon took place recently bringing commerce and participants from all over the country to Aroostook County.

City of Caribou
City of Caribou
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“450 athletes from all over the country and Canada signed up to run the tough course and we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback”, said Lydia Kieffer-Till, the City of Caribou’s Marketing & Event Coordinator. “The runners, and walkers, are raving about the community involvement, the number of spectators along the course; the businesses, especially hotels and restaurants, saw a boost in business over the race weekend, and everyone is talking about what a positive thing it is for Aroostook County”.

There were runners from 16 different states and 3 Canadian Provinces including runners from California, New Mexico, British Columbia, Florida, Montana, Tennessee, etc. The runners, walkers and joggers had the choice to run the full marathon, a handcycle marathon, a half marathon, a handcycle half marathon, relay races of each distance or a kids’ race.

Aside from the runners, the City also hosted a street festival during the races. This attracted locals who would not otherwise have come out to the running events. The street festival featured two live bands that played throughout the day and there were over 60 food and craft vendors in attendance.

Race awards were given to the top athletes of each race and winners of several age categories, as well as the top three “County” runners in each race. Erik McCarthy, of Old Town, took first place in the Caribou Marathon with a race time of 2:36:05, followed by hometown favorite and Caribou Marathon race committee member Evan Graves of Caribou, with a race time of 2:41:03;Joey Bard, also from Caribou, took third with a time of 3:11:27. On the women’s side, Tracy Guerrette, of Saint Agatha, took first place with a time of 3:03:24, followed by Jennifer St. Amand of Dexter, Minnesota with a time of 3:24:46; Audrey Machowski of Wales, Maine, brought home third place with a time of 3:31:26.

Kieffer-Till, says it’s a group effort to put on such events. “The City has many departments and each and every one of them played a role in getting this event off the ground; They were a vital part in planning, organizing and going forward with the marathon, as they will be again in future years. But truly the bread and butter of this event was the Caribou Marathon Race Committee. The committee met on a regular basis for months going through each detail about the event and planning each aspect from the spaghetti supper to the race medal design; we could not have done it without them”.

There will be a pizza party for all sponsors and volunteers who played a role in the Caribou Races on Thursday, October 6th from 5-7pm at the Caribou Recreation Department.

 

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