P.E.I. Marathon runners must take new route due to construction

Construction in P.E.I. National Park is forcing everyone to take a detour even runners in this weekend's P.E.I. Marathon.

Anyone running the full marathon length on Sunday will be using a different route than previous years, over the first three legs of the race.

Major road and bridge repair is going on this fall and winter throughout the park.

"We're actually very fortunate that we were able to re-route and join back up with the rest of the marathon course by only changing fivekilometres," said race director Myrtle Jenkins-Smith.

NEW ROUTE MIGHT BE BETTER

It may even prove to be a better run.

"The scenery is actually beautiful and there's some wind protection there, so we're really quite happy with it.," said Jenkins-Smith.

The new course now goes through Stanhope.

The changes had to be approved by Boston Marathon officials, because the P.E.I. Marathon is a Boston qualifier.

It's possible race officials could decide to keep the new route for next year's run.Jenkins-Smith says she'll be asking for feedback from participants in Sunday's race to help make that decision.