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Nashua,
New Hampshire -- The top New Hampshire finishers at the 2009 B.A.A.
Boston Marathon were presented with a very special and new award for their
accomplishment. The Henri Renaud Memorial Marathon Award was presented
for the first time to Heidi Westerling of Acworth, New Hampshire, and
Brandon Newbould of Dover in a ceremony in Nashua, New Hampshire on Monday,
May 18th. The presentations were made at Martha's Exchange Restaurant
and Brew Pub in Nashua.
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Gate
City Strider president Michelle Poublon presents Brandon Newbould
with the Henri Renaud award.
photo Dave Camire
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These awards
were created by the Gate City Striders
running club, based in Nashua, representing the Granite State, to
honor Henri Renaud on the 100th anniversary of his victory at the B.A.A.
Boston Marathon in 1909. Henri Renaud, a mill worker from Nashua, trained
through the winter that year in preparation for his first B.A.A Boston
Marathon. He finished first that day at Boston, one of 73 runners to
finish out of 184 starters that Patriot’s Day, April 19th. It was
brutally hot, one of the hottest days in Boston history. Renaud came from
well back in the pack, passing some 20 runners in the final five miles.
He remains the only New Hampshire runner to win the Boston Marathon. This feat created
tremendous interest in New Hampshire and this presentation on the 100th
anniversary.
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Gate
City Strider president Michelle Poublon presents Heidi Westerling
with the Henri Renaud award.
photo Dave Camire
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The Gate
City Striders thus honor the memory of Henri Renaud in his home town,
and also celebrate the strength of New Hampshire running today. There
were 334 Granite State runners who crossed the finish line at Boston this
year.
Heidi Westerling
ran 2:43:29 and was the 14th woman at B.A.A. Boston and was the 230th
finisher overall out of 23,000. Brandon Newbould finished this year's
Boston in 2:33:27 and was 80th overall, 75th male. Westerling, 28, has
won several regional marathons including Keybank Vermont City where she
will be racing on May 24th, and has won the prestigious Cape Cod Marathon
multiple times. She had an outstanding run at the Women’s Olympic
Trials Marathon in Boston in 2008. Newbould, 27, completed only his third
marathon at Boston, but seems to have found a racing niche after an outstanding
career thus far at shorter road races.
The Henri
Renaud Memorial Marathon Award—it provides the opportunity to honor
the memory of an outstanding running feat by honoring these outstanding
young runners from New Hampshire and the sport they represent. It is fitting.
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