The 1st Annual Caribou Races, an event scheduled for September that will include a full-marathon qualifier for the Boston Marathon, is beginning to line up sponsors and looks to be on track for a successful launch.  

Lydia Kieffer, the City of Caribou’s Event Coordinator says it's good to live in such a supportive community, “Event sponsorships are always a challenge to obtain, but we have had very positive responses so far and are getting closer every day to obtaining our goal.”

A group photo was taken Thursday, March 17th, of representatives of each the Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsorship organizations. Represented organizations were Cary Medical Center, Pines Health Services, Sitel, United Insurance, Katahdin Trust Company, MMG Insurance, Machias Savings Banks, WAGMTV, and Griffeth Ford. Currently, over 25 sponsors, of various levels, are already lined up for this fall’s event, which will feature a street festival, pre-race exposition and pre-race dinner, and the races.

City of Caribou
City of Caribou
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Sitel's Robbie Jalbert says the marathon promotes healthy living and inspires people to push themselves to achieve things that are beyond the norm. In addition to the economic impact, Jalbert says events like this are important to community and civic pride.

Rob Kieffer of United Insurance says his agency has formed a relay team and is encouraging other businesses to do the same. He congratulates all of the volunteers and community for making this first Caribou Marathon a reality.

The weekend event is aimed at raising money for the other festivities held in Caribou such as Winter Carnival and Thursdays on Sweden Street.

A portion of the proceeds will also contribute to the efforts of the Caribou Parks & Recreation Foundation and to Camp Adventure, a summer camp for children aged 12-17 with Type 1 Diabetes.

CaribouRaces.com
CaribouRaces.com
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WAGM-TV Representative Bernie Lagasse says the event promises to bring people from throughough North America to Caribou, and he would like to see the marathon successful for many years to come.

Machias Savings Bank Executive Vice President of Business Banking Mike Kelley, Sr. says, with many race distances available, everyone is encouraged to give it a try. There is a half marathon, relay races featuring varying distances and a kid’s marathon. "Relay races are great for team building activities and are a nice way to show your support as a company, group of friends or family."

MMG Insurance President and CEO Larry Shaw says the Caribou Races will welcome individuals from many different areas and give the opportunity to showcase the natural beauty of Aroostook County.

The Caribou Marathon event will kick off Saturday, September 17th with a pre-race exposition and pre-race dinner. The expo and dinner are open to the public. Keiffer says the dinner will include items grown in Maine and unique to northern Maine’s
heritage.

Neal Griffeth, owner of Griffeth Ford, encourages the public to attend and to welcome runners and their families and friends into the community on race weekend. He says a free street festival in the community will hopefully bring everyone out, as will the community dinner before the race.

In addition to runners and sponsors, the Caribou Race Committee is looking for volunteers. Katahdin Trust Company Retail Services Vice President Peggy Smith says they're helping spread the word to families, friends and coworkers about volunteering in the community.

Caribou will celebrate its inaugural year with Cary Medical Center and Pines Health Services signing up as its Platinum sponsors.

The Caribou Marathon, with a USATF Certified Course, meaning one is eligible to qualify for the Boston Marathon, will be held on Sunday, September 18th. The Caribou Marathon will feature a number of events including a Pre-Race Exposition, Pre-Race Dinner, Half Marathon, Marathon relay, Half Marathon Relay and Caribou Kids Marathon. Registration is open and can be done on line at Caribouraces.com.

You can also follow progress as the races near at the RUN Caribou Facebook page.

 

Information in this article submitted to us as part of a press release. If you would like to share your community news or event with our audience, please email newspi@townsquaremedia.com

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