Runners will have plenty of options to fit their racing plans on Wednesday, as the tradition of Fourth of July races continues statewide.

In Bangor, for instance, director Dave Torrey is preparing for the 21st edition of one of the state’s most popular footraces, the Walter Hunt Memorial 4th of July 3K.

The race will start at the Brewer Auditorium at 10:45 a.m. and follow the parade route down Wilson Street and into downtown Bangor. Race-day registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

The route, along with a short distance that’s manageable for even the youngest runners, has proven attractive to many young families, Torrey said.

“Back in the early years we were stuck around 150, 200 [entrants],” Torrey said. “There’s really something going on. I don’t know.”

Last year’s race drew more than 490 runners. With parade-goers massed on the sides of the street, especially in downtown Bangor, the experience is unlike most that runners encounter in their largely lonely sport.

Among this year’s entrants: the winners of the last two Hunt 3K races, brothers Joey and Louis Luchini of Ellsworth.

Joey Luchini, a track star at the University of Maine, was awarded the win last year after finishing with his brother.

Louis, a Stanford University standout who ran the third-fastest junior (under age 20) 10K in U.S. history during his freshman year at the school, won the race in 1999.

About the only change this year, Torrey said, is the return of a team category for both men and women.

Torrey said the race has caught the interest of people outside Maine’s borders as well: a man from New Brunswick is bringing five 13- and 14-year-old runners so they can experience running in front of the large Bangor throng.

Other July 4 races:

. The Sebec Village Snowmobile Club 4th of July 5K, which will be run in Dover-Foxcroft at 8 a.m. Registration begins at 7.

. The Let Freedom Ring 5-miler, at Brooks. The race starts at 8 a.m.

. The 4th of July 4-miler in Bridgton, at Stevens Brook School. The race begins at 8 a.m.

. The L.L. Bean 10K, in Freeport, which begins at 7:30 a.m.