November 22, 2024
ROAD RACING

Goode, Brunton post decisive victories in second Flattop 5K

LAMOINE – Saturday’s windy and chilly conditions certainly didn’t deter the nearly 200 runners who took to the roads of this tightly knit Hancock County community for the second annual Flattop 5-kilometer road race.

Adam Goode of Orono won the event that honors the late Bill Pinkham, touring the fast out-and-back course in 16 minutes, 17 seconds.

Pinkham was a runner from Lamoine who competed in many area road races. He died after finishing the 2005 Walter Hunt 3K in Bangor.

Eric Rudolph of Sullivan finished second in 16:58, Andy Goupee of Ellsworth third in 17:00, Jeremy Lisee of Milbridge fourth in 17:14, Machias’ Tommy McWalters was fifth in 17:54, and Perry’s Austin Townsend Jr. was sixth in 18:13.

Elizabeth Brunton of Birch Harbor, a former Sumner of East Sullivan standout, won the women’s division in 19:37. Ann Favolise-Stant of Columbia was second in 20:00 and Brunton’s younger sister Vanessa was third in 20:02.

Both Goode, 23, and Brunton, 22, were making their Flattop debuts, and both were impressed.

“I like it a lot; it’s a good race,” said Goode, who is training for the Boston Marathon.

“It’s good they’re having a big race for [Pinkham],” Goode added.

“I think it’s great that they do this for him,” concurred Brunton.

Goode, a former Bangor High School and University of Maine standout, never met Pinkham but saw him at many local road races over the years.

“Once I found out that Bill was the guy with the white hair that was at every race, I was like ‘Oh, that’s Bill,'” Goode said. “I started doing a lot of road races right after I graduated college, but I can’t say I knew him personally.”

Goode, who is in a band called “Jack’s Wild,” had been plugging a lot of miles over the winter in preparation for the Boston Marathon with very little speed work.

“I don’t really have as much speed as I have in the past,” he said. “It’s good to do some speed work after running long, slow runs all winter.”

The course was slightly different than that of the inaugural race, starting at the Lamoine School, making a sharp left onto Shore Road before a turnaround point on Shore Road and back to the school.

“It was pretty fast, because there were very few hills,” said Brunton, who graduated from the University of Southern Maine in May with a degree in communications.

“It was just a really beautiful day, it’s just a really beautiful course,” she added.

Like Goode, Brunton participates in many local road races but enjoys the love of the sport just as much as its competitive nature.

“I just love running. I’ve run all my life,” she said. “That’s just why I do it, for the love of it.”

Brunton’s younger brother, Andrew, finished seventh overall in 18:16 while another Sumner runner, Henry Bauer, came in eighth in 18:25.

Mount Desert Island High School running coach Kate Goupee of Ellsworth, who will also be running the Boston Marathon, finished fourth in the women’s division and 19th overall in 20:40.


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