BANGOR – When a female runner she didn’t recognize bolted away from defending champ Lara Rand at the start of the 22nd Walter Hunt Memorial Fourth of July 3K on Thursday, the Orrington woman did some quick thinking.

The woman, she figured, was one of two things. The first: Foolhardy (in which case, she’d wilt in the heat, and be overtaken later). The second: Vanessa McGowan. Former UMaine star. Very, very fast.

Twenty minutes after the mystery runner had won the women’s division of the race, Rand still thought the second scenario had turned out to be true.

“As the race went on and the heat was there, there was no chance at all that I was going to catch her,” Rand said. “I sort of came to the conclusion that it must be Vanessa McGowan.”

Think again.

The woman was Jenna Richardson, a former Waterville High School star who just finished up her college track career at Brown University.

As it turns out, Richardson was plenty fast, too. She ran the 1.8-mile course in 10 minutes, 27 seconds. Rand was second in 10:54 while Cassie Hintz of Stillwater ran 11:06.In the men’s division, Ellsworth brothers Joey and Louie Luchini broke away from the rest of the field after 700 yards and enjoyed a leisurely stroll down Main Street before finishing side by side.

Head finish judge Dave Jeffrey awarded the victory to Joey, a recent UMaine grad. Louie, a Stanford University All-American who finished fifth at 5,000 meters in the U.S. Outdoor Track and Field Championships, was second.

Joey Luchini finished in 8:51 while Louie was credited with an 8:52. Michael Bunker of Bucksport was third in 8:58.

Joey Luchini, who hasn’t had the chance to run with his brother much since Louie headed to California to attend school, enjoyed the experience.

“It’s a lot of fun for me. It means a lot to me when Louie and I can just run together because we’re such good friends [as well as] brothers,” he said. “It’s a great feeling just to be able to get to the finish line first and second with my brother.”

The Luchinis made the most of their annual trek from Brewer to Bangor, abandoning serious racing and just enjoying a (brisk) tour of downtown.

“This is such an awesome race, just having so many people on the streets, and it’s really loud, too,” Louie Luchini said.

“Joey and I were waving to everybody, trying to get them going a little bit,” he said.

In the women’s race, Richardson roared through the first mile in 5:12 and was never challenged.

She said that she and a friend were looking for a race for the holiday week and opted for the Hunt race largely because of the heat wave.

“I picked this one because I knew it was going to be hot and I didn’t want to do more than a 3K [in the heat],” she said. “But I’m not really prepared to run a fast 3K yet. It was more like a workout.”

Rand said the conditions – with temperatures in the 90s and high humidity – made the race difficult despite its short length.

“It was soooo hot,” she said. “People and images were just a blur in front of me, with the haze and the humidity and the heat.”