Victorious homecoming for Doiron
July 31st, 2017

By Andrew Wagstaff

Maritime Runner

July 31, 2017

ROGERSVILLE, N.B. – He started the race a decade ago, and on Sunday, July 30, he won it.

Jean-Marc Doiron was the winner of the 5K at the Course du Festival des Choux de Bruxelles in his hometown, with a time of 16:45, edging out Dean Strowbridge by 12 seconds.

“I was really excited about doing a road race in front of people I know from my hometown,” said Doiron. “The plan for the race was to help pace my friend, Jean-Michel Robichaud, for a time close to 17 minutes, because he needs it to qualify for his cross-country team in Montreal in the fall.”

Rogersville firefighters Daniel Caissie (left) and Junior Pitre ran the 2K at the Course du Festival des Choux de Bruxelles in their full bunker gear on Sunday, July 30.

Photo courtesy of Angele McCaie

After about two kilometres, however, he said they started falling off the pace, leaving an opening for Strowbridge to surge ahead.

With the gap widening, Doiron threw his own surge and caught up to Strowbridge with about 2K to go in the race.

“I knew I had to keep the hammer down at that point, so I dug deep and kept a hard pace to the finish,” he said. “I was really happy to pull it off, as I’m just coming off a running break and just started getting back into base season for the following cross country season.”

Finishing as the top female was Doiron’s fiancée, Anouk Pelletier, with a time of 19:46. She came in ahead of Patty Blanchard by 30 seconds.

It was not an easy race to win, for the men or the women, according to Pelletier.

“I love talking and running with Patty, when I think of all her personal records, she impresses me so much,” she said. “She said she wanted to do under 20 and that was my goal too. I was feeling great at 2K so I picked up the pace.”

The Moncton couple praised the organizers for a job well done, and said the weather was beautiful for the third straight year they have done it.

A total of 36 people took part in the 5K race, while 35 more, many of them children, opted for the 2K race.

“The race went wonderfully,” said Angele McCaie, general manager for the village. “We also had two members of our fire department that ran the 2K in their full bunker gear, so that was great. It was a wonderful community event and we had perfect weather.”