Virtual Celebration Only for the 400th Demi-marathon de l’Acadie
March 1st, 2021

Organizers of the Demi-marathon de l’Acadie would have preferred to celebrate the 400th edition of the event with more pizzazz. 

They had an operational plan for an in person race, a virtual version for runners in the red zones and other provinces/states, 84 registrants, cash prizes, a nice souvenir tuque and the desire to meet runner friends even if might be brief and distanced at the in person event.  However, the Pandemic decided otherwise and forced the organizers to hold the race virtually only.  

Nevertheless, participants demonstrated their best and tight competitions were noted, even virtually.  Since organizers had ordered medals for each version, in person and virtual, they decided to offer six medals for the first 6 overall positions and the first 6 women at the finish, 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze.   The two winners of the gold medal for the 400th DMA are Alex Cowan of Tracadie and Sylvain Arseneau of Petit-Rocher, with a time of 1:23:53 and 1:28:02 respectively.   The two silver medals went of Yannick Tremblay of Beresford and Jonathan Legault of Dieppe, each recording a time of 1:29:17 and 1:32:25 respectively.  Gary Kenny of Tracadie and Marc Arseneau of Bathurst received the bronze medal with a time of 1:34:28 and 1:34:56 respectively.   

For the women, Nathalie Thériault-Roy of Bersford and Amy Caissie of Six Roads received the gold medal with a time of 1:44:46 and 1:46:44 respectively.  The silver medal recipients were Kelly O’Toole of Whitney and Nathalie Boivin of Bathurst who finished with a time of 1:48:59 and 1:51:28 respectively.   The bronze went to Silvia Antuna of Tracadie and Louise Thibodeau of Beresford with a time of 1:56:46 and 1:57:52 respectively.   

The registration fee for the DMA virtual races are now $10 for 2021.  If the province reverts to the yellow zone, the DMA organizers will offer an in person and a virtual event.  Registration fee will be $15 as usual for the in person version. 

Results of the race are posted on the RunNB and DMA websites.  This virtual race is considered an official race but only for the record of the number of DMA races completed.  You can view the selfies of all participants on the DMA Facebook page of the DMA. 

The next virtual or in person DMA is scheduled for March 7. You can register at https://events.runnb.ca/calendar/.