Marathon Milestone

County Marathon measures up

Record hot temperatures are expected to cool down a bit on Saturday, just in time for the 14th running of the County Marathon.

Over the years, the event has featured every kind of weather that October in Prince Edward County can throw at these long distance runners, from warm sunshine to a cold bitter rain. Yet runners love this race. The scenery is breathtaking with waterviews that are never far away and a course that is mostly flat—important when you looking to set a personal best or striving to qualify for a major event like the Boston Marathon.

(L-R) Mark Henry and Peter Pimm find shelter under a tree at the finish line in Picton near Angry Bird’s restaurant, after a long, hot day measuring the 42.2 kilometre Prince Edward County Marathon course.

But to do this, it is important that the race course is independently calibrated and verified. The course must be measured to a fine degree at least once a decade. Roads get modified over time. Intersections get moved. And elevations occasionally lowered. Any of these modifications can change the length of a particular section of a marathon course.

Enter Peter Pimm. Pimm is a former national team coach, and one of Canada’s most experienced and successful running coaches. He has certified countless race routes across Ontario. Pimm joined organizers of the County Marathon this week to calibrate the course in advance of this weekend’s run.

Using a Jones counter—a device attached to the front wheel of a bicycle—Pimm and race organizer Mark Henry set about the painstaking task of measuring the course distance according to international standards.

“After 10 years, they (Athletics Canada) figure little things may have happened—minor construction— and it’s also just a double check on the accuracy of the course in the first place,” says Pimm.

Pimm has been busy, measuring 10 courses over the past year.

“One of the things contributing to the number is the amount of construction going on in the Oakville, Burlington and Toronto area,” said Pimm.

When it comes to measuring a marathon, there is little room for error or close-enough. The route needs to be meticulously measured.

The Jones Counter.

Henry and Pimm spent all day Monday riding and measuring the course.

“Rick at Bloomfield Bicycle Company made our day a little easier by donating a road bike for the day,” says Henry.

Easier, yet Monday was one of the hottest days of the year.

“It was a really hot ride, that’s for sure,” said Pimm. “That’s the hottest I have ever measured a course in, by far.”

The 14th annual County Marathon runs this Sunday, October 1, with about 700 athletes participating in the full, half and relay team races. The starting gun sounds at 8 a.m. in Wellington at the corner of Belleville Street and Niles. The course winds through Bloomfield, through Sandbanks Provincial Park, along East Lake to the finish line in Picton.

Make plans to get out and cheer on the runners, and walkers, this Sunday morning as they carve their way through beautiful Prince Edward County.