Luchinis on run over weekend Ellsworth brothers support each other on and off the course

Brothers Louie and Joey Luchini of Ellsworth will be very busy this weekend not only running, but in all likelihood supporting each other as Joey will run the Walter Hunt Memorial 3K today while his younger brother will compete in the 5,000 meters at the Maine Distance Festival at Bowdoin College in Brunswick Saturday.

Louie is seeded sixth in the 5K at 13 minutes, 38 seconds, while Joey is the defending Walter Hunt champ.

Louie was fifth in the 5,000 at the U.S. Outdoor Championships at Stanford in 13:38.77, only three seconds behind winner Tim Broe.

Since no Americans have yet qualified for the World Outdoor Championships in the 5,000, the two-mile was dropped and the 5K added. Qualifying standards are between 13:21.50 and 13:25.40, respectively.

This will be Louie Luchini’s second time competing in the Distance Festival. He ran the mile in the high school race in 1998, clocking a 4:21.80.

“Time is my big goal. I’m not really shooting for the world meet,” Luchini said. “I’ll just get in the lead pack and try to run the pace. This marks the end of track season for me, so it would be nice to go out with a bang and try to run in the 13:20s.”

Luchini also said the first mile will go out fast.

“[A] 4:16 pace sounds good for the first mile, and there’s not much strategy involved. I’ll just try and hang on,” he said.

Even though the meet is late in the day, Luchini hopes the hot weather will stay away.

“I’m acclimated to the heat, and I’ve raced mostly at night, so it won’t be much of a factor,” he said.

Luchini plans to take some down time after this meet, then start training for the upcoming cross-country season. He may also head to the Dominican Republic for the Pan American Games in August.

Meanwhile, Joey Luchini will run the Walter Hunt 3K for the first time without his brother.

“It’s the first time without him, so I’ll just go out there and see what happens,” he said. “I’m enjoying my training right now, and I’m in great shape.”

The race plan may also change without Louie.

“We usually sit and kick, and went out in around 4:25 [in the first mile] last year,” Joey Luchini said. “I don’t really have a plan as of right now.”

Like most runners in the race, Luchini is hoping for nice weather.

“Hopefully, the hot weather will stay away, but I’m acclimated to it from training in California,” he said.

Joey plans to travel to Brunswick to watch his brother in the Distance Festival, while Louie will cheer Joey on in the Hunt 3K. Joey is also signed up to run the Beach-to-Beacon 10K in August.

Joey Luchini, a graduate of the University of Maine, traveled to California with Louie this past year. He looked for a teaching job while working at a restaurant in Palo Alto, and will teach at an elementary school in Guilford this fall. He’s hoping to earn his master’s degree.