BRUNSWICK – When former Sumner Memorial High and Dartmouth College star Parker Pruett headed back to Maine last weekend, he eagerly looked forward to a top-notch homecoming.

Pruett, a Gouldsboro native, didn’t make quite the splash he’d hoped at the New Balance Maine Distance Festival. … and he watched as a lanky Canadian tore more than a second off Pruett’s meet record in the high school 800.

But afterward, as he fielded questions, the personable Pruett could still muster a smile.

“I was kind of disappointed, but this was my first race back in Maine in years – since my freshman year in college,” Pruett explained. “And I love coming to this meet and running. It was great for me to just be here and run again.”

Pruett ran in the second, slower section of the men’s mile run and finished fifth in 4 minutes, 4.97 seconds. He entered the race figuring he was in good enough shape to run about 3:59.

“Running five seconds slow [compared to my goal] was not that inspiring, but I could tell halfway into the race that I wasn’t feeling the way I needed to be at that point in the race,” Pruett said.

Pruett, who set the Distance Festival’s high school 800 mark (1:54.00) shortly after his graduation from Sumner in 1997, said he was impressed by Canadian Nolan Fyfe’s record-setting 1:52.89 in that event.

Still, he admitted that he was hoping Fyfe might tire after running the first lap in a brisk 56 seconds.

“I was rooting for my record, for sure,” Pruett said with a laugh. “But you know, at some point it’s gotta go, and I’m just glad I was here to see it as opposed to hearing about it.”

Pruett is now a professional, having joined the Nike-sponsored Farm Team in Palo Alto, Calif., last fall. Shortly after joining the team he became injured, and didn’t get in much solid training until January.

He said that since then, though, he’s seen plenty of progress and has set a personal best by two seconds in the 1,500.

But life as a pro athlete isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: Pruett gets coaching and other help from the Farm Team, but must hold a job to make ends meet.

“I got a job at Kinko’s. I’m doing sort of back-office work for them,” Pruett said. “It’s not what I hoped to be doing with my Dartmouth education, but it pays the bills right now and allows me to live. I’m hoping to get a better job here sometime soon.”

Finishing kick: Runners looking for a race this weekend have at least three to choose from on Sunday.

In Caribou, the S.W. Collins 5K run/walk (along with a kids 1K0 is on tap. The 1K starts at 8:30 a.m., the walk begins at 9:30 and the 5K runners will toe the line at 10.

In Norway, the Oxford Hills 8K Run to the Lake (also with a 1K kids run) will be held at Guy Rowe School. The 1K begins at 7:45 a.m. and the 8K (about five miles) is at 8:30.

And down in the Sebago region, the Great Scot Trot 5K will be held at Bonny Eagle High School in Standish at 8 a.m.

Looking into the future, runners interested in a longer challenge may want to mark Aug. 10 on their calendars.

That’s the day of the second annual County Open Half Marathon and Half Marathon Relay in Houlton. Run as a part of The County Open Weekend, the road race joins a golf tourney, a bike race and a gala dinner on the schedule of fund-raisers for the Houlton Regional Health Service Foundation.

John Holyoke can be reached at 990-8214, 1-800-310-8600 or by e-mail at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net