Dean Strobridge drove over 300 miles to run a race that was only one mile on Sunday. It took just under 5 hrs for the round trip from Willow Grove, outside Saint John to Miramichi and 4:43 to run the mile.
He was on a mission to set a new provincial record for the 40-49 age group that he beat by seven seconds. His time probably would have been faster had he any competition. His closest competitor was Andrew MacLean from Miramichi who was 25 seconds behind in second place. MacLean in his early 20ts out sprinted Sylvain Arsenault from Petit-Rocher by one second.
Strobridge new record eclipsed the old mark of 4:50 set by Richard Chadwick of Oromocto in 2002. Chadwick was 41 at the time.
Dr.Paula Keating was the top female miler with a time of 5:23 while Aline Goguen from Moncton was second in 5:58 and Danica Arsenau from Beresford was third in 6:40. A total of 38 runners took part in the race with 17 being female.
The mile race is part of the Miramichi River Runners 21 race series, consisting of 12(5km), three mile, three 10km and three cross country races during the year.
This was the first mile race of the season with the next one slated for July 28 and the third and final race will be held on September 29th.
Lee Roy from Bathurst had the course record for the mile, of 4:49 which he set last year in the June mile,was in the race but trotted through the course with Paul Gallant also of Bathurst in 7:08 and 7:09.
Both runners had put in a hard 10km the previous day in St.Isidore where they ran the 10km route. Lee finished in 32:49 for a personal best while Gallant had a time of 33.49.
The next day the two were off to run in the Subway Canada Day 10 mile race in Grand Bay-Westfield. This time around the pair finished 1-2 in the race with Roy’s winning time of 56.41 compared to Gallant who took second in 57.13.
[caption id="attachment_22813" align="alignleft" width="460"] Dean Strobridge set a NB Record in the Miramichi Mile .[/caption]