The fact that 180 runners and walkers finished the inaugural Flattop 5K road race in Lamoine last spring was no shock to Robin Emery.

The Flattop 5K honored the late Bill Pinkham, who had a flat top hairstyle.

“I wasn’t surprised, because Bill was just that kind of guy. I knew we had a lot of people, it shows what kind of person he was,” Emery said.

Pinkham, a well-known local runner and Lamoine native, died after finishing the Fourth of July 3K in Bangor in July 2005.

The second annual Flattop run takes place Saturday, at 9:30 a.m. at the Lamoine School.

Emery, a longtime friend and running partner of Pinkham’s, is confident that the race will have an even larger turnout this year.

“I have 81 signed up already and that’s far ahead of last year,” she said. “I won’t be surprised if we have a good turnout this year as well.”

She added that Pinkham would’ve been impressed with last year’s turnout.

“That was just awesome, Bill would’ve been so proud,” Emery said.

With a lot of local runners beginning to put away their treadmills and winter gear for the season, the timing is perfect

“This is a good time of year to have it, there’s not many races around,” Emery said. “Plus, if people want to do one [race] a month, they can get it done.”

The race will be a town effort, Emery said, with the marine patrol, county sheriff and Lamoine Fire Department all pitching in to lend a hand in some way.

She added that one of Pinkham’s many great traits was lending a hand to younger runners.

“He encouraged young folks,” Emery said. “He was just a nice man, Everyone I know liked him.”

Emery said the course has changed a little bit for this year, as it wont go into the Lamoine State Park, as it did a year ago.

“We were afraid if it rained, it [the park] wasn’t going to open,” Emery said. “This year, we’re starting from the school and going down Shore Road, so it’s a lot flatter than last year.”

She added that the flat, fast loop was one of Pinkham’s favorite training routes.

Like last year, runners will be able to pick one of Pinkham’s vintage race T-shirts.

“We still have some left over from last year,” Emery said. “We had so many it was incredible. That was one of his talents, he could find races.”

A couple of local standouts who have pre-registered are Eric Rudolph and Andy Goupee.

Erik McCarthy won last year with a time of 16 minutes, 53 seconds.

Registration starts at 8 Saturday morning, and the fee is $10. Proceeds will go toward a scholarship for a runner from Sumner Memorial High School of East Sullivan, Pinkham’s high school.

Brewer Alumni Meet

The Penobscot Valley Conference outdoor track and field season will unofficially kick off on Saturday, April 14 with the Brewer High School Alumni Meet at the Pendleton Street track.

The meet, which is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m., will put BHS’ track and field alumni, such as Glendon Rand, Kate Goupee and this reporter, and staff members against stars of the Witches’ current outdoor track and field team, such as Travis Blackmer, Katie Snow and Kaitlin Noyes.

The meet is open to any Brewer alum or staff member, and the staff team may consist of anyone currently employed with the Brewer School Department.

Participants are open to two open events and a relay event, or two relays and one open event. All relay events will be co-ed.

Anyone interested in signing up can contact Brewer coach Jamerson Crowley via e-mail at umfkxc@hotmail.com or jcrowley@breweredu.org. Signing up prior to meet day is encouraged, and participants are also encouraged to indicate whether they will participate on the Alumni or Staff team.