The second year for the Great Bangor Marathon and Half looked a lot like the first, at least in terms of weather.
But another rainy race couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm for many runners as they took on the 26.2-mile marathon or 13.1-mile half marathon. And they had a long list of reasons for braving the rain and hitting the pavement.
Nancy Mills traveled all the way from Michigan as part of her pursuit to run a marathon in all 50 states.
“I’m a 50-stater and I’m getting this one out of the way for Maine,” Mills said before the race. She wasn’t overly thrilled with the rain, but had a sunny take on it before crossing a 46th state off her marathon list.
“I hope it dries up, but at least you don’t dehydrate,” Mills said.
Shawn Kenniston of Old Town said running a marathon is “something that I’ve always wanted to do,” and he was back for more after coming up just short in a previous attempt.
“I tried to do it like 15 years ago and did a 20-mile run and gave up, so it’s just something that’s been on my bucket list that I wanted to accomplish,” Kenniston said before the race.
He wasn’t too fazed by the rain as it trickled down near the starting line, calling it “business as usual” given the amount of recent precipitation that had happened during his training.
“This is my chance to do it. I’m not getting any younger,” Kenniston said.
The 41-year-old made the most of that chance Sunday and went on to complete his first marathon.
Thirty-year-old Danny White of Somerville, Massachusetts won the men’s division for the marathon with a time of 2:44:30. Thirty-seven-year-old Flori Davis of Hermon won the women’s division with a time of 3:10:56. Davis had won the half marathon women’s division last year, and Brewer’s Katie Norwood, 36, won it this year with a time of 1:31:52. Portland’s Tyler Richards, 32, was the top men’s finisher for the half with a time of 1:23:22.
Laura MacIntyre, who organized the Bangor race with her husband David, called it an exciting day that included 277 registered runners from 33 states along with some international participants from Canada. Unlike last year, when some runners reported getting lost on the course, she said afterward that they hadn’t received any such reports this time around, and credited that to increased signage along the course.
Half marathon runner Heather Durrell praised Lifestyle Sports Global, the MacIntyre’s business that manages this and several other Maine-based marathons, for bringing this event to Bangor.
“I have usually had to travel a long ways to run a half marathon, and I like that Lifestyle Sports Global is trying to do something locally to get people into Bangor and get the running community something to do in our own town,” Durrell said before the race.
Mike Charkowski was one of those people traveling to Bangor for the race. Cherkowski is from New Hampshire and said he found the Great Bangor Marathon when searching for a marathon at this time of year. He was looking for a better ending after a previous experience ended on a sour note.
“I ran a marathon a couple years ago, ended up in the medical tent, and said I want to run one more where I don’t end up in the hospital,” Charkowski said with a chuckle at the starting line. He went on to finish in the top three of his 45-49 age group.
The race is USA Track & Field certified, and results indicate that seven runners qualified for the Boston Marathon with their time on Sunday.
