BANGOR – The Walter Hunt Memorial 3,000-meter road race is a race that can be won, or lost, on the tough middle portion known as the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge.

Just after crossing the bridge and turning onto Bangor’s Main Street, Judson Cake of Bar Harbor and Jeff Caron of Auburn pulled away from a pack of runners that included Matt Hougan of Bar Harbor, Dan Balaguero of Stillwater and Adam Goode of Orono.

Cake went on to outsprint Caron to win the 26th annual Brewer-Bangor event in 8 minutes, 29 seconds. Caron finished in 8:32.

Hougan was third in 8:42, Balaguero fourth in 8:54 and Goode was fifth in 8:56.

Cassie Hintz of Stillwater went on to record her third straight victory in the women’s division in 9:55. Dana Parrot of Tampa came in second in 10:05, while Christine Ganz of Bar Harbor was third in 10:33, Lara Rand of Orrington fourth in 11:00, and Maria Millard of Orono fifth in 11:25.

Cake admitted he was going for the course record of 8:10, but after going through the first mile 10 seconds slower then he wanted, it was virtually impossible to break the record in the sticky conditions.

“We were going for the record. I think on a perfect day we still might not be able to get it,” said Cake, who took turns with Goode, Caron and Hougan in setting the pace throughout the first mile.

“I just felt like a bloated marshmallow out there. The air is just insane,” Cake added.

Tim Wakeland (1987) and Gerry Clapper (1988) share the men’s record of 8:10.

Wendy Delan also set the women’s record in 1988 with a 9:28.

Cake, who is training with team Zap Fitness, based in North Carolina, said the rain shower that fell before the race cooled things off a bit, which helped.

“That was really nice. I think if [the rain] had kept going, we could’ve taken 10-15 seconds off what we ran,” he said. “It kinda’ made things more sticky than they were before the rain.”

Cake added that he plans on “taking seven days off from running starting tomorrow, then I’m going to build up toward [the] Chicago [Marathon].”

Cake, who said he peaked in May after winning the Sugarloaf 15K, was impressed with the way his competitors ran, particularly recent UMaine graduate Goode.

“Adam’s in good shape, he’s one of those guys that had an OK career in college but really has blossomed after college,” said Cake, who plans on running the Beach to Beacon 10K race in Cape Elizabeth in August.

Hintz actually received a slight challenge late in the women’s race from Parrot, but the 18-year old University of Wisconsin-bound runner’s lead was just too big.

Hintz admitted that she wasn’t feeling well, but was fairly satisfied with her time.

“Considering how I felt, it’s OK,” she said with a grin. She finished last year’s race in 9:42 and was a second slower in 2004.

Hintz is building up toward her fall cross country season with the Badgers, doing 70 miles a week and using road races as hard workouts.

“I use road races in the summer as my speed work,” she said. “It’s a lot more fun to run with people in a road race than to run by yourself.”

Her training plan is the same strategy that has worked well for her in the last several years.

“I’m doing what I’ve basically done for the past few years , around 70 miles a week and as many road races I can squeeze in,” said Hintz, who plans on running the Paul Bunyan 15K race on July 16 in Bangor.

The first Bill Pinkham Awards were given after the race to Mickey Lackey of Millinocket and Rene Collins of Brewer. Both runners finished first in the men’s and women’s 60-69 age group divisions, respectively.

The award commemorates Pinkham, a longtime Maine runner who collapsed and died after finishing last year’s Hunt 3K.

This year’s race attracted 443 finishers, 34 short of the record of 479, set in 2000.

A total of 270 people registered for the race this year on race day, according to race director Dave Torrey.

Dedham’s Christine Blackmer celebrated her 95th birthday by becoming the race’s final finisher.