The 4th Annual Epic Finale 5K Road Race was held on Sunday, December 27, 2009 in Bangor. Race Director is Brad Ryder - for any additional information, please contact him via email at bsr@epicsportsofmaine.com Attached are the results!
New Course Record (15:48) was run by Riley Masters of Bangor. New Age Group Records were established by Riley Masters of Bangor (15:48) for the 19 and Under Men’s Division, Julie Brown of Millinocket (22:07) for the 50-59 Women’s Division, Chris Almy of Charlestown (21:05) for the 60-69 Men’s Division and Joe Blatchford of Orrington (58:40) for the 80 and Over Men’s Division.
Ryan King
Epic Finale 5K - 12/28/08 - 2nd mile. Photo by Lilly Haskell
Filed under: Bangor, Photos — David Colby Young @ 7:08 pm
First Male: Branden Mountain
First Female: Corleen Iannazzi
We are attaching some pictures from the event as well. There were 52 participants and the total funds raised for Multiple Myeloma research was $3,200. The day was beautiful and that certainly helped as people came out for a 5k walk or run in Bangor.
On Sunday, (09-13-2009), Charles & Paula Sawyer drove 1 hour north on Route 95 to run the “Race For Hope” which took place at the White House Inn in Hampden, a suburb a few miles west of Bangor. Paula tells us “”We ran the race last year and really were impressed with its organization, the participants, the food and the prizes. The event did not disappoint us this year. When we arrived at the hotel, we picked up our bib numbers and requested the bathroom facilities and the hotel manager gave us the key to the hot tub room where we were able to get ready for the race. The NBC affiliate (WLBZ, Channel 2 from Bangor) was there interviewing athletic teams from the University of Maine at Orono and we spotted the women’s hockey team, the women’s basketball team and the men’s cross country team and football teams all gathered in groups getting ready to run the race as well. Traditionally, the University of Maine athletic dept. also supports the cancer -fund raising event and this year all proceeds from the race were raised for the new cancer center which has been built and is part of Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.
It was a hot, sunny day and the race began at 11:30. Just before the gun was fired and the race began, the organizer presented plaques to three Bangor area cancer survivors. Each of the cancer survivors also spoke to the crowds about their experiences and thanked us for our participation in this event which was first initiated in 1994. Organizers of “Run for Hope” were inspired by Terry Fox, a cancer survivor in Canada, who lost his leg to the disease and walked the entire distance of Canada raising millions of dollars for cancer reserach. Since 1994, the race has been held every year and many notables have participated. This year, two area physicians, one a Bangor oncologist, ran the race and another female physician also walked the course.
The course has a good three hills in it and part of it was on an ascending cross-country path and the other parts were alongside highways and then through country paths and over railroad tracks. Charlie ran in the 23’s and came in first in his age and I ran 30.24 and came in first in my age. The field of men in his age category was huge because a lot of guys in their 60’s turned out for this event. Not so for the women in their 60’s. After the race, the awards ceremony took place in the parking lot of the hotel.
This hotel is beautiful and architecturally is patterned after the back portion of the White House in DC! There is an outdoor, heated swimming pool and all of the U. Maine/Orono college athletes cooled off after the event by throwing themselves into the pool! And yes, again, I had to take lots and lots of photos! I even took a photo of the WLBZ Channel 2 photographer who was photographing the college kids!:) The food was great and included Mrs. Field’s white and dark chocolate chip cookies, bananas, sliced oranges, low-cal sports drinks, orange juices, muffins, bananas and other pastries. At the awards ceremony, they presented blue, red and yellow ribbons for first, second and third in each category and then they announced at least 10-15 extraordinary door prizes all of which were overnight stays to hotels in Maine. The last name drawn was mine and I received an overnight stay to one of four hotels of my choice, one of which was the White House Inn. Another choice was the Black Bear Inn in Orono, Maine, another was the hotel next door to the Casino in Bangor and the fourth was the Fairfield Inn at Waterville. Right now, I am leaning toward the White House Inn! The food at the race yesterday was super. ”
See Paula Sawyer’s photo report below. All of these photos Paula Sawyer took at the White House Inn at the awards ceremony after the Run for Hope 5K was completed.
You suggested I tell you about the 4 mile trail race in Augusta last Saturday.
It started on a grassy hill we ran down. It was really slippery, so I hopped more than ran. At the bottom of the hill we went across a beaver dam that was overflowing, so we all got wet feet. Then onto a nice trail that was primarily packed dirt and about 4-5 feet wide. Some people might call the course flat. I would say that much of it was winding and reasonably flat, but on the last mile or two there were short hills. The course wound around and joined again at the hill, which we had to run up for the finish. I walked more than ran as did many of the other runners, including Paula.
Prizes were two deep by ten year increments. Second place was a 15 dollar gift certificate to Eping Sports in Bangor. I think first place was 20 dollars. Water was provided but no food, which was okay with me. There was a water stop on the trail about at the 2 3/4 mile point. the group present were enthusiastic and supportive, and we plan to do the race again next year, even though our times were poor.
And still another runner says:
I had decided to run the Epic Sport Rabbit Run four miler,
since on Mother's Day I'd be running with my daughter for
the one mile fun run and the 5k...I thought it would be a
nice warm up. I had some friends tell me I shouldn't do two
races back to back yet...especially since the Mother's Day
race was the big one I was looking forward to.
In the first 500 yards of the Rabbit Run, there were two
beaver dams that had flooded the trail. There was no way to
run around it. So, thru it I ran. By mile two I had a
significant hot spot on the bottom of my foot, by mile three
it hurt, and since I was only a mile from being done...I
just sucked it up and finished...though it hurt a lot.
As soon as I looked at my foot, I realized what a mistake
I'd made. The entire bottom of my left foot was a huge
blister. At first I thought I'd just ruined my chances at a
PR. Then when it got to be 9pm at night and I'd consulted
all the websites and friends I knew about what to do...I
realized that in order to heal, I couldn't do the Mother's
Day race. My daughter was horribly disappointed, and so was
I. I kind of cried about it for the first part of Mother's
Day. I'm still healing...I at least went for a walk
yesterday and used the treadmill...but it was still very
sore.
I was very disappointing...but the lesson was learned:
Don't do anything major the day before a race that is
important to you.
