Every road race has its own identity.

The Cobscook Bay 10K in Pembroke has its scenic course and post-race cookout, and the Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth is a challenging course and some of the world’s best runners.

Bangor’s annual Labor Day 5-miler is a challenging race with lots of history.

The 44th annual edition of the race will take place Monday at 9 a.m., starting and finishing on Main Street.

Not only does the end-of-summer event draw some of Eastern Maine’s top runners, but the race is a tradition.

“It’s the second oldest race in the state [to the Patriots Day 5-miler in Portland], it has a lot of history,” said local runner and race director Skip Howard. “Not a lot of races can say that.”

The tough course features a little bit of everything: A fast flat start, a slight uphill or two in the second mile, a demanding, hilly middle mile and a fast downhill finish.

Howard, who ran the race for the first time in 1974, admitted that he wasn’t prepared for such a tough challenge.

“I was prepared for it the first year I did it,” he said. “You have to race a course a few times to know where to let it go and to be conservative. It’s a pretty good course.”

He added that hill training is a must for any runner before taking on the Bangor course.

“If you’re not a good uphill runner you’re cooked pretty much,” he said.

The 1974 Labor Day run was the first road race that Howard ran in.

“I’m very fond of it, its great to be involved in,” he said. “You always have that fondness for that first race [you did].”

Howard also commended the job the Bangor Parks and Recreation Department does.

“It’s not just me, it’s a group effort. They [the Parks and Rec.] do a great job,” he said.

New champions will be crowned this year, as defending men’s winner Judson Cake is training with Zap Fitness in North Carolina, gearing up for the Chicago Marathon, while Cassie Hintz is starting her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin, Howard said.

“She’s been pretty dominant the last several years,” Howard added. “We’ll see what happens with her running career [at Wisconsin].”

The men’s field should be very wide open, Howard said. Matt Hougan, Adam Goode and Erik McCarthy are legitimate contenders while Lara Rand, the Sub 5 Track Club’s president, and Christine Ganz will head up the women’s field.

With the race being the eighth in the Sub 5 Race Series, there are huge points implications riding on Monday’s race.

Evan Graves leads with 36 points and McCarthy is next with 35. Howard said Graves will likely run the Labor Day 8K in Caribou, as he is coaching soccer at Easton High School.

Goode and Hougan have 26 and 18 points, respectively. Hougan has only run two series races, and must run at least three more to qualify for postseason awards (five races are required).

Registration on Monday will start at 7:45 a.m., inside the Bangor Parks and Recreation building, with a fee of $10.