Sawyer wins Caraquet 10K
August 12th, 2017

By Andrew Wagstaff

Maritime Runner

Aug. 12, 2017

CARAQUET, N.B. – Greg Sawyer was used to finishing third at this race. That didn’t happen this year.

The Edmundston runner was in top form at the 10km Caraquet this morning, topping a strong field with a finish time of 35:06.

“Don’t look at the time of this race, because the humidity in the air was bad,” said Sawyer, coming off a second place finish at the 5K in Lameque last weekend.

The real race today began at around the 6K mark, where Sawyer found himself in a front running group with Paul Gallant, Alexandre L’Heureux and Mathieu Morrison.

“Mathieu and Paul began to pull off a little bit, so Alex and I raced until the 8K mark,” he said. “I knew if I didn’t push myself for the last 2K, I wouldn’t be able to win, because Paul and Alex both have a fast kick, so I pushed and was able to keep a gap between them and keep it to the finish line.”

He said the course was flat, fast and paved, well-marked with great volunteers on the course.

“It was one of my favourite races so far this season,” said Sawyer.

Finishing only 15 seconds behind at 35:21 was L’Heureux in second place, followed by Morrison in third at 35:29.

The top female finisher in the race was Caraquet’s own 16-year-old Amelie Cormier, with a time of 43:39, followed closely by Nathalie Theriault-Roy only seven seconds behind at 43:46.

It was a personal best in the 10K for Theriault-Roy, who continued her strong racing season.

“I’m very happy,” she said. “The course was good with a few changes this year, and the humidity was high, but overall for me the run went very good.”

Finishing in third place among females was Francine Buick at 44:31.

For complete official results by Atlantic Chip, visit here.

In the 5K race it was Remi Blanchard of Bas-Caraquet placing first with a time of 19:09, followed by Mathieu Fortin at 19:57, and Charles Crounse at 20:47. Top females were Wanita McGraw of Tracadie at 23:58, Helene Lanteigne at 24:35, and Guylaine Chiasson at 25:16.

A total of 132 runners took part in the 10K race, while 107 ran and walked the 5K, and 150 youngsters took part in the kids’ events.

“It was amazing,” said Nicole Boudreau, organizing committee member. “The weather was perfect, about 18 and cloudy, and everything went as planned. We are very happy.”