BREWER – A perfect day for running ended up being a perfect day for Jeff Caron as he smashed the record in the 24th annual Brewer High Turkey Trot 5K Sunday.

The 22-year-old University of Maine runner started strong and never looked back en route to a time of 14 minutes, 57 seconds, over the 3.1-mile course, breaking the old record of 15:11 shared by Jim Garster (1991) and Tim Wakeland (1988).

Running phenom Cassie Hintz of Stillwater, who will attend the University of Wisconsin next fall, won her second straight women’s race as she finished with a time of 17:20, not quite beating her record-setting 17:12 from last year.

Caron, who blazed to a 4:49 per-mile pace, had a strong lead throughout the race, knowing that there was strong competition at the front, such as former UMaine teammate Joshua Trevino, Ethan Hemphill, and last year’s winner, Judson Cake.

“I wanted to go out strong in the beginning,” said Caron, who liked the ideal weather conditions of high 40s and no wind. “I thought it would be a tighter pack in the first mile, but I ended up having a lead from the start. At that point, I knew I couldn’t lose my lead, and just had to keep pushing.”

Caron finished second in last year’s race after being passed near the end by Cake.

The main difference this year was not running cross country at UMaine.

“Last year I was competing with the cross country team, and it had been a long, strenuous season,” he said. “We had finished about a week and a half before this race, so at that point I was just taking some time off from my season, and this was just kind of getting back into it, like a little warmup to get into my indoor season.

“Whereas this year, it’s kind of the end of my training, and I had only done a minimal amount of races. So I was really able to work up to this race instead of just having it as a side race.”

Caron is in his fifth year at UMaine and is majoring in civil engineering. He has been a standout competitor on the school’s cross country and track teams and has eligibility remaining for outdoor track next spring.

Trevino finished second and also broke the old course record with a 15:07 finish. Hemphill, of Freeport, was third in 15:17, Donny Drake of UMaine was fourth (15:21), and Michael Bunker of Bucksport was fifth (15:22). Last year’s champ, Cake of Bar Harbor, finished seventh (15:32), behind former Searsport running star Andy Spaulding of Freeport (15:25).

In the women’s race, Hintz wasn’t challenged, with more than a minute’s difference in time between her and second-place finisher Kathleen Bell of Orono (18:32).

Hintz was using the run more for training purposes rather than concentrating on beating last year’s time.

“I just wanted to use Sunday’s race as a tempo run, because I’m running the Footlocker Regional next week in New York,” she said.

“I tried to pick people off as I went, like the guys that were ahead of me,” she added.

Hintz is a senior at Old Town High School, and last Monday signed a National Letter of Intent to go to the University of Wisconsin on a full scholarship.

“I felt it was a good fit; the coaches are great, the team is really nice, and the civil engineering program is good, and that’s what I want to major in,” Hintz said.

She hopes to be competing on the cross country, indoor, and outdoor track teams.

Belfast track coach JoAnn Nealey finished third (18:45), followed by Annie Howley of Wilton (19:05) and former Brewer High running standout Kate McGuire (19:09), now a track coach at Mount Desert Island High.

A total of 433 runners, joggers and walkers finished the race.