Wiscasset’s LeVan sets Maine Marathon mark

PORTLAND – Emily LeVan of Wiscasset smashed her own course record by more than seven minutes Sunday and ran the fastest marathon ever by a woman in Maine while winning the 13th annual Sportshoe Center Maine Marathon.

LeVan, 31, completed the 26.2-mile course from Portland’s Back Cove to Yarmouth and back in 2 hours, 39 minutes and 54 seconds. Running in her first marathon since giving birth to a daughter in January, LeVan easily broke the course record of 2:47:38 she set in 2002.

LeVan also became the first woman to run a sub-2:40 marathon in Maine. The previous state record was 2:41:03, set by Karen Dunn at the 1982 Paul Bunyan Marathon in Bangor.

The overall winner was Eric Lavigne, 28, of Burlington, Vt., ith a time of 2:31:01.

The two races had a record total of almost 2,000 finishers, but the day was marred by the death of a runner, Julius Marzul, 78, of Gorham. Marzul, a veteran of numerous marathons, collapsed less than 100 yards from the finish line of the half marathon and died of apparent heart failure.