UMaine grad student and Houlton high schooler win Bangor’s Fourth of July 3K

The cloudy, breezy conditions in Bangor on Thursday morning may not have been ideal for Fourth of July festivities, but were perfect for the 378 runners participating in the 43rd Annual Walter Hunt road race.

As usual, the downhill three-kilometer (1.86-mile) course began at the Brewer Auditorium, crossed the Penobscot River on Union Street and finished at Pickering Square in downtown Bangor.

Crossing the finish line first was Cumberland native and University of Maine distance runner Luke Marsanskis, with an unofficial time of 8:06 — just four seconds off the course record set by Riley Masters in 2011.

“This is my second time running this. It’s a really fun race,” Marsanskis said. “The team just started our summer training, so we thought this would be a good ‘rust-buster.’ I love that it’s downhill, you never really get tired.”

Marsanskis’ UMaine teammate and last year’s winner Charlie Collins of Hampden came in second, with a time of 8:18.

Participants in the 43rd Annual Walter Hunt Fourth of July 3K Road Race make their way over the Willard C. Orr Pedestrian Bridge (left) and along Union Street (right) in Bangor. Credit: Linda Coan O’Kresik / BDN

The top women’s finisher was rising high school senior Teanne Ewings of Houlton, who finished with an unofficial time of 9:41.

“The course is super fast, and a lot of fun,” Ewings said. “I first did it last year, and I’ll probably keep coming back. I definitely was closing the gap on some of the guys up there.”