Marathon By The Sea Prepares For Its Return

Marathon by the Sea in Saint John is changing things up for its first in-person event since the pandemic began.

This year’s event will be held during the New Brunswick Day long weekend from July 29 to 31, a few weeks earlier than usual.

Chairperson Mike Doyle said that will coincide with the AREA 506 festival taking place the same weekend.

“Their site is right beside our site so we thought, why don’t we try to work together to make it a come for the day, stay for the night event,” Doyle said in a recent interview.

Organizers have also decided to replace the usual marathon distance with a 30K run instead.

Doyle said that is due in part to planned construction on Harbour Bridge over the summer.

“Harbour Bridge is down to one lane, so we can’t utilize the Harbour Bridge, which was one of the biggest features in the event,” he said.

But there will be a number of familiar events, including the half marathon, a 10K run, and a 5K run. Participants can also take part in 3x5K challenge — three separate 5K runs in three hours.

New this year is an event for the whole family: the Color my World 4K. At each kilometer mark, runners are doused from head to toe in a different colored powder.

“The color run is a ball. By the time you get back, you look like you’ve got a tie-dyed shirt on,” said Doyle.

Also new is a Running Club Challenge, where $10 of every running club member registration will be donated to a charity of choice in the club’s community.

Doyle said he hopes the fact more people took up running during the pandemic will boost numbers for this year’s marathon weekend.

“I just softly opened registration last week and we have approximately 40 people that jumped in right away, and that’s triple what we usually get,” he said. “Usually the numbers are very soft for the first month and a half.”

More details about this year’s marathon can be found by clicking here.