| BANGOR — Mike
Bunker knew he was in for some tough competition
in his bid to notch his second consecutive win in
the 25th annual Walter Hunt Memorial Fourth of
July Road Race on Monday.
With runners such
as Bar Harbor’s Judson Cake, Bangor’s Phil LeBreton and Adam
Goode, Freeport’s Andy Spaulding and Surry’s Andy
Beardsley among the field, it was expected that
the 3,000-meter event would live up its billing as
“Maine’s fastest road race.”
In the end, the
23-year-old Bunker found what he needed to edge
Spaulding by four seconds with a time of 8:35, for
his second major win in as many weeks.
Just nine days
earlier, Bunker took top honors in the annual Tour
du Lac, held in his home town of Bucksport.
In the moments
following Monday’s race, the celebratory mood
turned somber as longtime runner Bill Pinkham, 62,
of Lamoine collapsed and died moments after he
finished the competition. (See story elsewhere in
this issue.)
Bunker, who now
lives in Bar Harbor, jumped in front of the field of 386 runners right from the start.
“I went out hard
because that’s the way we’ve been training for
this race,” he said.
“I went through
the first mile at 4:23, which is about what I
expected. But I didn’t expect the people who were
around me to be around me, like Adam Goode.
“He stuck right
with me so I made another move that I really
didn’t want to make that early on.”
Coming down
Bangor’s Main Street, which was lined by hundreds
of onlookers, Bunker was feeling the pressure from
several challengers.
“Andy Spaulding
started to catch up with me again but I expected
that so I was able to hold him off,” he said. “At
the end, I had just enough.”
Both Bunker and
17-year-old Cassie Hintz of Stillwater
successfully defended their 2004 championships in
the Brewer-to-Bangor race.
Hintz finished
13th overall with a time of
9:42, well ahead of runner-up
Kate Dzurec of
Storrs, Conn., who was 24th
overall in 10:24.
Several Hancock
County runners finished among the top 25.
Cake, 27, of Bar
Harbor was third in 8:46. Beardsley, 41, who coaches cross-country and track at
Ellsworth
High School, was sixth in 9:13.
Ellsworth
Middle School principal Jim
Newett, 47, was ninth in 9:33, just two seconds in
front of 18-year-old Forrest Tobie of Bar Harbor, who was 10th.
James Pellerano,
16, of Surry was 18th in
9:59.
Bucksport
High School cross-country and track coach Christopher Jones, 42, was 19th in
10:01.
Brian Hubbell, 49,
of Bar Harbor was 20th in 10:12, and Seth Young, 21, of Ellsworth was 25th in
10:25. |
