Cleghorn, Guitard top finishers at Father’s Day 5 Miler
June 18th, 2017

ST. ANDREWS, N.B. – From the Saint John Airport to downtown St. Andrews, Brenda Guitard had a pretty amazing weekend of racing.

The Saint John runner finished as the top female at today’s St. Andrews Father’s Day 5 Miler, a day after accomplishing the same feat in the 5K at the Saint John Airport run.

Always featuring great performances, smiles and excellent volunteers, the St. Andrews race is one of her favourites, she said.

“I definitely surprised myself by finishing as the first female,” said Guitard, who finished with a time of 35:27. “I was just looking to run a good race and push myself, and didn’t know my results until the awards were passed out.”

She ran with fast friends Shawn McGrath and Paul Sands for about half of the race, which she said motivated her to keep pushing herself.

“I’m not quite where I was a few years ago time-wise, but I am having fun and enjoying the races,” said Guitard.

The top overall finisher was Jon Cleghorn of Fredericton with a time of 27:12. Other than an appearance at the Cabot Trail Relay Race three weeks ago, this was his first race in the past eight months, and he said he felt awful warming up.

“As soon as the gun went off, I had no real expectations,” he said. “I knew if I ran well I had the chance to win but I really did not know what kind of shape I was in.”

He worked a small lead over Greg Sawyer about 3K into the race, and was able to build on that over the challenging back half of the course to the finish.

It was Cleghorn’s first time running the Father’s Day race in St. Andrews, the area where his father comes from, and it might be his last opportunity, as he is moving to Sweden next month to take on a new job.

“I have an idea of where I’m at now and can hopefully start training each day again,” he said. “It just felt so natural to be able to get out there and do what I have enjoyed doing for many years.”

He complimented the organizers and volunteers for putting on a great event.

Finishing second behind Cleghorn was Sawyer at 27:52, followed by Ryan O’Shea at 28:52.

Top females behind Guitard were Marnie Scharz at 36:14 and Suzanne Doucet at 36:21.

For complete official results by Atlantic Chip, visit here.

A total of 166 runners took part in the race, along with about 80 children in the kids’ event, much to the pleasure of race directors Vern Cunningham and Mike Power.

“The weather was a little overcast and cloudy, but there was no rain,” said Power, who said the children enjoyed running around a police car as the turning point in their 400m and 800m races. “We had a really good turnout, and it was great.”

ST. ANDREWS, N.B. – From the Saint John Airport to downtown St. Andrews, Brenda Guitard had a pretty amazing weekend of racing.

The Saint John runner finished as the top female at today’s St. Andrews Father’s Day 5 Miler, a day after accomplishing the same feat in the 5K at the Saint John Airport run.

Always featuring great performances, smiles and excellent volunteers, the St. Andrews race is one of her favourites, she said.

“I definitely surprised myself by finishing as the first female,” said Guitard, who finished with a time of 35:27. “I was just looking to run a good race and push myself, and didn’t know my results until the awards were passed out.”

She ran with fast friends Shawn McGrath and Paul Sands for about half of the race, which she said motivated her to keep pushing herself.

“I’m not quite where I was a few years ago time-wise, but I am having fun and enjoying the races,” said Guitard.

The top overall finisher was Jon Cleghorn of Fredericton with a time of 27:12. Other than an appearance at the Cabot Trail Relay Race three weeks ago, this was his first race in the past eight months, and he said he felt awful warming up.

“As soon as the gun went off, I had no real expectations,” he said. “I knew if I ran well I had the chance to win but I really did not know what kind of shape I was in.”

He worked a small lead over Greg Sawyer about 3K into the race, and was able to build on that over the challenging back half of the course to the finish.

It was Cleghorn’s first time running the Father’s Day race in St. Andrews, the area where his father comes from, and it might be his last opportunity, as he is moving to Sweden next month to take on a new job.

“I have an idea of where I’m at now and can hopefully start training each day again,” he said. “It just felt so natural to be able to get out there and do what I have enjoyed doing for many years.”

He complimented the organizers and volunteers for putting on a great event.

Finishing second behind Cleghorn was Sawyer at 27:52, followed by Ryan O’Shea at 28:52.

Top females behind Guitard were Marnie Scharz at 36:14 and Suzanne Doucet at 36:21.

For complete official results by Atlantic Chip, visit here.

A total of 166 runners took part in the race, along with about 80 children in the kids’ event, much to the pleasure of race directors Vern Cunningham and Mike Power.

“The weather was a little overcast and cloudy, but there was no rain,” said Power, who said the children enjoyed running around a police car as the turning point in their 400m and 800m races. “We had a really good turnout, and it was great.”