HAMPDEN – A practice run turned into a shared victory for two University of Maine cross country standouts at the Run For Hope 5-kilometer road race Sunday morning.

Juniors Jeff Caron and Paul Rupprecht won the 21st version of the race in a time of 16 minutes, 58 seconds. They did the race to run with some teammates who missed a time trial on Saturday and were looking for a way to gauge their efforts so far this season.

“It was just kind of a tempo run – to get our hearts going, our legs moving,” said Jeff Caron, a former Edward Little of Auburn running star. “It was a measuring stick to what kind of shape we were in.”

About 250 runners, joggers and walkers competed in the 21st race, which was changed from the Terry Fox Run to the Run for Hope this year because race organizers are attempting to resolve a disagreement with the Terry Fox Foundation on who should recei%ve the race funds, according to race director Peter Daigle.

Race organizers want the funds to stay in the community and now donate the money to the Eastern Maine Medical Center’s Cancer Care of Maine which uses the funds for a breast cancer trial, according to Daigle.

Caron and Rupprecht crossed the finish line together and easily outdistanced the rest of the field while Angela Ewings of Littleton enjoyed a similar margin while capturing the women’s race and her second Fox Run title in three years.

Complete times for the runners were not available because the computer used for timing the race broke down, according to Daigle.

Caron and Rupprecht stayed with some of their teammates for about half of the race before they started to pull ahead.

“We didn’t want that to happen, but we just started doing our own thing and we worked together,” said Rupprecht, who is from Yonkers, N.Y. “That’s what we plan on doing this season, so it’s good we did it today.”

Both runners added that the race was a good “stepping stone” for their opener this Saturday when their race course will be an 8K.

“We’re not really where we want to be yet. There’s two months to our conference [championship] meet – that’s what we want to peak for,” Caron said.

In the women’s race, Ewings showed she is in top condition again after giving birth to her first child, Teagan, in May of 2002. Ewings battled a few injuries a couple of months after started running again, but now said she feels great and enjoyed a successful road race series for the Aroostook Musterds this season.

“I wasn’t really sure what to expect [after having the baby], but besides the [early] injuries, I think I’ve gotten back into it pretty good,” she said.

Ewings, who was the Fox Run winner two years ago with a time of 20 minutes, 37 seconds, said she kept waiting for a challenge from another women’s runner, but no one got close.

“I wasn’t sure whether to keep pushing or to hold back until someone came up next to me. No one did, so I just kind of kept the same pace,” she said.

The race featured a strong UMaine theme besides the participation of the cross country runners as members of the women’s basketball and men’s ice hockey teams also completed the race.