AMHERST - Amherst residents fearing sweat-filled New Brunswickers were attacking them Saturday morning need not fear.
That large, heavy breathing contingent of people you saw charging across the border to Nova Scotia was a friendly group of runners participating in the Cross Border 10K Challenge, put on by the Cumberland YMCA.
The inaugural event, which attracted 181 runners from across Canada, kicked off at 8:30 a.m., and wrapped up after the awards ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
Charles Dixon of Sackville, N.B., who was the first to cross the finish line in 37:43, was impressed with the run.
"I found the course really interesting because the terrain changed about five different times," Dixon said.
"We started on pavement, then onto a dirt road and back to pavement, and then the real kicker was the two hills at the end, which don't look like much, but when you're tired and it's the end of the race they really do a number on your legs.
"The run was really well organized. I really enjoyed it."
Amherst's Tammy Megeney, who was the last to cross the finish line, agreed with Dixon.
"It was a great event and I had a lot of fun."
Megeney was presented with a well-deserved medal for her effort and, as a person who is new to running, said she will continue to train.
"This was the first time I ever did anything like this," said Megeney. "So just to finish the race was pretty emotional. That was the main thing, whether I walked or ran I just wanted to make sure I finished.
"I will definitely do it year after year, as well as getting other people to do it. It was really well organized and I had a great time. It was awesome."
Amherst's Krista Harrison, who resides in Toronto but will soon be moving to Halifax, finished 23rd overall and second among people from Amherst with a time of 44:38, just behind Amherst's Larry Pardy who finished with a time of 44:34.
"I've only done races in Ontario so my mom and family hasn't seen me cross a finish line until now, so that was great," said Harrison who played basketball at ARHS and Mount Allison University. "It was nice how the course was free of traffic, you don't always get that in Ontario."
Tami Deburger, who can usually be found running in the desert-like conditions of Kamloops, B.C., is presently visiting relatives in Springhill for 10 days.
"It was really well organized," Daburger said. "It's nice how they have everything blocked off and they have the police helping at the intersections. You don't always get that in Kamloops. And they feed you really well here. Much better than they do out there."
Amherst's Sarah Morrison usually runs half marathons but found the 10K to be a real challenge.
"Adelaide Street was a little steep, so it took a good effort to get up that," said Morrison. "But here were a lot of water stations and a lot of people out cheering us all on, so it was a lot of fun," she added.
And what else did she like about the Cross-Border 10K Challenge?
"I'm getting married in a week so it helps me stay fit for my dress."
Will the Cross-Border Challenge be back next year?
After all the awards were handed out race director Paul Giroux said that with all the positive feedback he's received they will definitely do it again next year.
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RACE RESULTS
1. Charles Dixon, Sackville, N.B. 37:43
2. Todd Power, Salisbury, N.B. 37:50
3. Philip Nickerson. Halifax 39:49
4. Terry Reynolds, Greenwood 39:56
5. Dale Letcher, Beechville 40:06
6. Paul Gallant, Bedford 40:15
7. Greg Trenholm, Sackville, N.B. 40:58
8. Eric Hopper, Fredericton 41:15
9. Robin Meister, New Ross 41:19
10. Jim Thain, Halifax 41:36
11. Emily Hamilton , Cole Harbour 42:23
12. Susan Carbyn, New Minas 42:46
13. Jason Murphy, Halifax 43:01
14. Ron MacDougall, Halifax 43:05
15. Robert Summerby, Westcock, N.B. 43:19
16. Tim Purdy, Oxford 43:36
17. Terry Morris, Hubbards 43:37
18. Sylvio Bourque, Grand-Digue, N.B. 44:10
19. Gavin Timberlake, Dartmouth 44:24
20. Mark Paris, Truro 44:26
21. John A. Anderson, Lunenburg 44:29
22. Larry Pardy, Amherst 44:34
23. Krista Harrison, Amherst 44:38
24. Mark Trueman, Halifax 44:42
25. Pat Kennedy, Shubenacadie 45:26
26. Terry Mosher, Dartmouth 45:54
27. Sarah Quinton. Amherst 45:56
28. Michael Ling, Quispamsis, N.B. 45:57
29. Tim Shreve, Oromocto, N.B. 45:59
30. Darlene Chapman, Amherst 46:18
31. Erin Beaudin, Coldbrook 46:20
32. Paul Heintzman, Wolfville 46:31
33. Rob Chambers, Halifax 46:37
34. Mike Stewart, Truro 46:37
35. Josh Turple, Truro 46:38
36. Doug Coulter, Lower Sackville 46:42
37. Sarah Morrison, Amherst 46:43
38. Chris Pitts, Dartmouth 46:52
39. David Fleming, Sackville, N.B. 47:00
40. Alexander Burrows, Green Oak 47:01
41. Scott McCready, Milton, Ont., 47:07
42. Dolores Berube, Dalhousie, N.B. 47:07
43. Hazel Sellars, Amherst 47:09
44. Greg Gaudet, Amherst 47:39
45. Adrien Pelletier, Dalhousie, N.B. 47:52
46. Sean Ward, Amherst 48:08
47. Jamie Naugler, Brookfield 48:11
48. Fred Bailey, Amherst 48:31
49. Steve Sanders, Blockhouse 48:35
50. Evan Steeves, Amherst 48:37
51. Dougal MacDonald, Springhill 48:38
52. Kevin MacKenzie, Amherst 48:43
53. Malcolm Pain, Bedford 49:00
54. Michael Hunter, Amherst 49:12
55. Souhail Jedidi , Oxford 49:19
56. Gary Estabrooks, Amherst 49:30
57. Iain Summerby-Murra, Westcock, N.B. 49:38
58. Brian Pettigrew, Amherst 49:41
59. Jason MacDonald, Amherst 49:44
60. Sharon Shew, Milton, Ont. 49:58
61. Kim Maddison, Amherst 50:15
62. Jeff Allen, Truro 50:18
63. Kevin Christie, Fredericton 50:40
64. Brian Skabar, Amherst 50:44
65. Tammy Pardy, Amherst 50:48
66. Ronald Warren, Manganese Mines 50:54
67. Dianne Powell, Amherst 51:05
68. David Hoffman, Oxford 51:08
69. Monique Hallee, Amherst 51:13
70. Bruce Fredericks, Coldbrook 51:13
71. Bill Morgan, Truro 51:15
72. Stephen Bedard, Halifax 51:28
73. Gerald Pugh, Fredericton 51:33
74. Jennifer Flynn, Amherst 51:49
75. Michelle Crane, Halifax 51:53
76. Tina White, Halifax 51:55
77. Alison Fredericks, Coldbrook 52:04
78. Theresa Martin, Springhill 52:06
79. Keith Meagher, Springhill 52:30
80. Lisa Peters, Sackville, N.B. 52:34
81. Carla Chambers, Halifax 52:45
82. Bill Roblee, Lunenburg 52:53
83. Gary Wilkie, Amherst 52:56
84. Gina Hyslop, Kingston, N.B. 52:56
85. Julie Sherriff, Dartmouth 53:01
86. Katherine Fawthrop, Red Lake, Ont., 53:10
87. Mike Jessome, Hammonds Plains 53:20
88. Sarah Tulk, Sackville, N.B. 53:23
89. Rosemary Makaran, Riverview, N.B. 53:45
90. Claudette Maltais, Charlo, N.B. 54:05
91. Roger Dorrington, River Hebert 54:18
92. Omer Bourgeois, River Philip 54:41
93. Mark Smith, Amherst 54:43
94. Connie Meister, New Ross 54:46
95. Colleen Dowe, Amherst 54:51
96. Kristina Brown, Wellington 54:59
97. Nelson Porteous, Bridgetown 55:09
98. David Cain, Riverview, N.B. 55:18
99. Keisha Goodwin, Amherst 55:33
100. Bill Murphy, Amherst 55:34
101. Ken MacKenzie, Amherst 55:36
102. Diane Tingley, Halifax 55:44
103. Sonya Fury, Aulac, N.B. 56:02
104. Anthony Fromm, Amherst 56:08
105. Tim Giddens, Amherst 56:10
106. Crystal Culp , Hamilton, Ont., 56:12
107. Marc Pelletier, Moncton 56:15
108. Jane Thain, Haifax 56:27
109. Steven Christie, Fredericton 56:29
110. Brad Works, Amherst 56:45
111. Wendy Graham, Sackville, N.B. 57:26
112. Sarah Letcher, Beechville 57:30
113. Ryan Collins, Barrie, Ont. 57:31
114. Linda Hall, Lower Sackville 57:32
115. Richard Chipman, Truro 57:33
116. Bonita Moore, Oxford 57:51
117. Bonnie Wilkie, Amherst 58:02
118. Bryan MacDonald, New Glasgow 58:05
119. Shelley Carroll Dob, Amherst 58:07
120. Annette Scott, Halifax 58:22
121. Jenny Keenan, Halifax 58:23
122. Darla MacPherson, Sackville, N.B. 58:25
123. Julie Briffa, Mississauga, Ont., 58:47
124. Jane Henderson, Toronto 58:50
125. Gerry Parker, Dartmouth 58:50
126. Kim Hicks, Amherst 59:03
127. Lisa Smith, Halifax 59:12
128. Ben Pitman, Amherst 59:20
129. June Burke-Macdonald, Amherst 59:24
130. Jim Boiduk, Amherst 59:40
131. Kathy Naugler, Brookfield 1:00:32
132. Rhiannon Morgan 1:00:39
133. Rebecca BÉrubÉ, Moncton 1:00:48
134. Joanne Ling, Quispamsis, N.B. 1:01:25
135. Laura Roblee, Lunenburg 1:01:29
136. Lucy Evans, Sackville, N.B. 1:02:06
137. Craig Evans, Sackville, N.B. 1:02:06
138. Patti Bennett, Amherst 1:02:15
139. Arlene Maddison, Amherst 1:02:38
140. Alex Legere, Amherst 1:02:44
141. Beverley Richardson, Blockhouse 1:02:59
142. Catherine Richard, Sackville, N.B. 1:03:09
143. Cheryl Reid, Sackville, N.B. 1:03:09
144. Hannah Wilson, Mississauga, Ont. 1:03:25
145. Cindy MacLean, Amherst 1:03:51
146. Nina Hoffman, Oxford 1:03:57
147. Vanessa Jones, Amherst 1:04:11
148. David Beaton, Amherst 1:04:19
149. Erin Beaton, Amherst 1:04:19
150. Heather Collicott, Moncton 1:04:23
151. Christiana Fleming, Sackville, N.B. 1:04:40
152. Katherine Hatheway, Amherst 1:04:55
153. Tami Daburger, Kamloops, B.C. 1:06:02
154. Melanie Lepper, Amherst 1:06:03
155. Joan Godfrey, Oxford 1:06:41
156. Margaret York, Amherst 1:07:00
157. Stephanie Morris, Amherst 1:07:29
158. Stacey Clayton, Amherst 1:07:58
159. Pam Chenhall, Amherst 1:08:02
160. Samantha McLellan, Amherst 1:08:32
161. Cynthia Babineau, Sackville, N.B. 1:08:57
162. Carol Collins, Barrie, Ont., 1:09:29
163. Theresa Babin, Riverview, N.B. 1:09:35
164. Mike White, Amherst 1:10:34
165. Tara White, Amherst 1:10:34
166. Mark Tector, Halifax 1:11:12
167. Robyn MacKinnon, Sackville, N.B. 1:11:22
168. Trish Atkinson, Amherst 1:11:46
169. Philip Stuart, Machias, Maine 1:12:05
170. Lori Campbell, Amherst 1:15:04
171. Kelli Cheverie, Amherst 1:18:50
172. Jennifer Hayden, Amherst 1:18:51
173. Andrea Morrison, Mississauga, Ont. 1:19:34
174. Linda Morrison, Mississauga, Ont. 1:20:07
175. Alexandra Theroux, Amherst 1:20:18
176. Brodie Callaghan, Amherst 1:21:28
177. Natasha Vandeweil, Amherst 1:22:30
178. Cathy Lucci Amhers 1:22:30
179. Sylvia Abbott, Moncton 1:23:42
180. Bill Trewin, Moncton 1:26:21
181. Tammy Megeney, Amherst 1:27:53
