Summer is coming to an end, unofficially at least, on Monday, and for local runners that can only mean one thing: The annual Bangor Labor Day Road Race five-miler is just around the corner.

The 44th annual edition of the Bangor running tradition will take place at 9 a.m. Monday, starting at the Bangor Parks and Recreation Building on Main Street.

The odds are very high that new race champions will be crowned this year, as defending men’s champ Judson Cake is training with ZAP Fitness in North Carolina, gearing up for the Chicago Marathon, and Cassie Hintz is heading to the University of Wisconsin.

Erik McCarthy of Old Town and Adam Goode of Orono are having outstanding seasons, and both should be in contention for the men’s title. Lara Rand of Orrington and Kathleen Bell of Orono should contend for women’s honors.

The course is one of the more challenging five-mile courses in Maine. The first two miles are fairly flat and fast, and the middle miles are tough.

Once runners turn onto West Broadway just after mile 3, two miles of sweet downhill will welcome them.

The race starts under the I-395 overpass on Main Street and finishes on Main Street in front of the recreation building.

The men’s winner will receive the Bob Hillgrove trophy and the women’s winner claims the Robin Emery trophy.

Registration on race day will start at 7:45 a.m. inside the recreation building, and the fee is $10.

Vikings start strong

The first official high school cross country meet of the season involving Penobscot Valley Conference teams took place Wednesday at Caribou High School.

The meet featured teams from Aroostook County such as Caribou, Presque Isle, Fort Kent, Limestone Community School/Maine School of Science and Mathematics, Madawaska and Greater Houlton Christian Academy.

The host Vikings dominated both meets, with the boys notching a perfect score of 15 points. Caribou senior Sam Sheehan toured the 2.5-mile course in 15 minutes, 24 seconds. Teammates Spencer McElwain, Stefan Ciszewski, Josh Tardif and Drew Freme rounded out the top five.

The Caribou girls were also victorious, scoring 27 points. Kristina Stephens and Hannah Saunders went 1-2 for the Vikes, who figure to be one of the top teams at Saturday’s Ellsworth Invitational.

Two meets were held last weekend – the Laliberte Invitational in Augusta and Lake Region Invitational in Naples.

Waterville won the Laliberte Invitational with a combined score of 610 points – boys and girls scores are combined at this meet. Brunswick was second with 682 in a field of mainly Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference schools.