BANGOR – The winners of Friday’s 28th annual Walter Hunt Memorial Fourth of July 3,000-meter road race won their titles with different tactics.

Ruben Sanca of Boston, a runner at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, emerged from a tight pack to win in 8 minutes, 25 seconds while Hilary Maxim of Old Town made things look easy in winning her second consecutive women’s crown in 10:27.

Race director Dave Torrey said Sanca’s time was the quickest at this event in 14 years. The course record is 8:10, shared by Gerry Clapper and Tim Wakeland.

Sanca’s former UML teammate, Ellsworth native and 2007 champ Steven DeWitt, earned overall runner-up honors in 8:32 with former Bangor High standout Riley Masters of Veazie third (8:41), Adam Goode of Bangor fourth (8:42) and Erik McCarthy of Orono fifth (9:01).

Maxim led the women’s race from start to finish, besting Orono native Sarah Taylor of Virginia by 19 seconds (10:46). Shannon Horton was third overall in 11:04, Brewer native Kristine Guaraldo of South Portland fourth (11:11) and Jennie Lucy of Bangor fifth (11:19).

Maxim bettered her personal-best on this course by a whopping 27 seconds while gearing up for her freshman year of cross country at the University of Maine.

“It’s just mileage and strength training, just 35 miles a week and strides and stuff,” the Class B outdoor track and field state champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 said of her summer regimen.

Maxim looked relaxed at the mile mark, blazing through in just under 5:20 and coasting home from there.

“After I hit the mile mark I just started to go and it felt really good,” she said. “I was really happy with my time. I love this course, I love that it’s all downhill.”

Maxim and the other 470 runners who finished the race benefited from a picture-perfect day for running, with Thursday night’s rain showers pushing out humid weather.

“I felt better than I did last year, definitely,” Maxim added.

Joey DeWitt, Sanca’s teammate and Steven’s younger brother, convinced the senior-to-be to not only enjoy a weekend in Maine but give the state’s fastest road race a try.

“Joey was kind of like promoting the race, he told me just to come out here and spend the Fourth of July with him and run the race,” said Sanca, originally from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Any impressions?

“I thought it was awesome because there were a lot of people here, it was fun,” Sanca said. “I definitely would want to come back.”

The race route is lined with spectators as the holiday parade follows the road race.

Sanca stayed with Steven DeWitt throughout the race and took the lead for good at the base of the footbridge in Pickering Square.

Even though Sanca went through the mile in 4:29, the pack in front of him that included Masters and Goode hit the mile in roughly 4:23. Sanca wasn’t sure he had enough to catch up.

“At the mile mark I didn’t think I would be able to catch them but I kept going at the same pace,” Sanca said.

That tactic paid off for a runner who didn’t know what to expect coming into the race.

“I didn’t know what kind of shape I was going to be in coming in, I’ve been doing mostly mileage for cross country, no specific race training or anything,” said Sanca.

The finance and economics major got some slight aid from cheering spectators near the Bank of America building, with fans encouraging the runners by letting them know the finish line was in sight.

“Some people started saying the finish line was right around the corner,” said Sanca.

Other notable top finishers included running coaches Joe Capehart of John Bapst of Bangor and Andy Beardsley of Ellsworth in sixth and seventh, former Orono High runner Matt Nadeau in eighth and former Brewer star Al Geiser in 11th.

rmclaughlin@bangordailynews.net

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