Bangor’s Mike Gaige eyes top status as Masters racer

Bangor’s Mike Gaige didn’t know who passed him on a downhill stretch with three-quarters of a mile to go in the USA Track and Field National Masters 8K Cross Country Championships around Boston’s Franklin Park on Nov. 20.

“I didn’t recognize him because he had a hat on,” said Gaige. “I didn’t know who it was until I saw him in the finish chute.”

The man in the hat was four-time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers, who finished second in the 40-49 year-old division. Gaige was fourth.

“I was impressed with his power. There’s no question that he is one of the best downhill runners in the world. He always was,” said Gaige.

Gaige’s time of 26:37 left him seven seconds behind Rogers and one second behind third-place finisher Chris Farmer. Charles McMullen won the race in 26:08. There were 163 runners in the 40-49 division and 313 overall.

His team, the Maine Masters, placed second in the team competition, seven seconds behind the Greater Lowell (Mass.) Road Runners. His teammates were Dan Paul, who finished 10th; Ralph Fletcher (14th), Ron Newbury (20th) and Kevin McDonald (28th).

Gaige was satisfied with his performance.

“I was hoping to run a little faster. But I was fighting off a cold the whole week before and, being a legal assistant, I had been involved in a trial the week before the race,” said Gaige, who works for the firm of Eaton, Peabody, Bradford and Veague. “Considering the cold and the stress of the long hours (spent on the trial), I ran fairly well.”

Gaige said he was one of the frontrunners in the pack that chased McMullen, Rodgers and Farmer.

“I was pretty strong at the end and I was able to hold off some guys who had outkicked me in this race a year ago,” said Gaige.

Gaige had placed fourth in 1992, but he was bothered by a right hamstring tear.

He said the 1993 field “was much more competitive” than the ’92 field.

The Canton, Pa., native and former captain of the Lock Haven (Pa.) University cross country and track teams has become one of the prominent runners in Maine since moving to the Bangor area in 1980.

He owns the record for the best time over the old 5.1-milemile course at the Bangor Labor Day Road Race, 25:05 (1981). He won the following year’s race in 25:09. He set the Machias Blueberry Run record in 1982 (24:45.9).

Now the 41-year-old Gaige has his sights set on becoming a prolific master’s runner.

The hamstring tear, originally incurred when he was lifting weights right before his 40th birthday, has finally healed.

So the 6-foot, 138-pound Gaige is able to do the speedwork that he wasn’t able to do while it was healing.

“I definitely feel I have better races in me,” said Gaige, the father of three daughters and nationally certified track official. “Being able to do my speedwork should enable me to drop my times appreciably.”

He hopes to run the Dartmouth Relays in January and he will search for quality road races and master’s races next spring, summer and fall.

“There’s not a whole lot of money to be made at the master’s level, but I’d like to reach the point where race directors would be willing to pay my expenses in order to have me run in their race,” said Gaige, whose bad arches prevent him from running marathons.