Tour du Lac 10 mile - Bucksport - June 28, 2003. Brian writes: Crows showed up in force for the 2003 Tour du Lac which, rather suddenly and unexpectedly became a tribute both to the race's long time director Fred Merriam (who was diagnosed the previous week with a malignant brain tumor) and to Fred's mother who passed away the previous Wednesday. With 55:29, the fastest first place in at least the last six years, Judson took the lead right from the start and stretched it out to finish over a minute and a half ahead of the runner up and last year's winner, Mike Bunker. Peter Palmer, with a 70 minute time, had the distinction of beginning the morning with a warmup run from MDI to Ellsworth. After finishing at just over 70 minutes, he was overheard considering an afternoon circuit around the Park Loop with Gary. Gary, promising an easy day of running, managed to hang back for a couple of 7:00 miles with Peter Palmer and me, before gearing up to reel his way up through the pack, finishing with a sub-6:40 pace at 13th overall and 2nd in his age group. With a solid 69:30 and at 25th overall, Kevin Johnson rounded out the sub-7:00 crows, no easy feat for a warm day on this hilly course. From the mid-pack, I can report that John Murphy, in his first try at this course, ran an amazing and excellent race. He said he began conservatively, running with a group averaging 7:40s. At about mile 6, he smoothly cruised through my little group which was holding 7:30s. And he finished just a bit over 73 minutes, which means he must have been cranking out pretty close to 7:00s for the last four miles -- some seriously negative splits. John Rolfe reliably made his way up from Portland to take 51st. Christine Wooley was right behind him at 57th. Bill Pinkham took 76th. And Peter Keeney, on his dedicated way back from last winter's surgery, did the work of three for the day, covering the course in 76:25 with a double-loaded baby jogger. And, for deeper historical perspective, OJ Logue writes: Though I did not win the race in 1981 I placed 2nd with a 51 and change time on a brutally hot day (90's)> My training partner, Kurt Lauenstein broke 51 minutes on that course. To this, Larry Allen adds: As a more-often-than-not training partner of OJ Logue in the days of yore (we coached the Bangor HS team and were at UMaine together and HS rivals before that) I can attest to the conditions of the 81 Tour du Lac when he and Kurt (Lauenstein) ran about 5 min miles on those hills around du lac. It was blistering hot (the ambient temperature and the pace!) I think OJ ran 2:26 in Boston a few months earlier that same Spring.

June 22, 2003. Beech Mountain Trail Race - Mount Desert.

Waldoboro Day 5K - Waldoboro - June 21, 2003. First place for Evan.

Trek Across Maine - June 13-15, 2003: Leah Rae Donahue writes: This is the 10th year I've ridden the TREK across MAINE to raise money for the American Lung Association. This year's team included me, Pam Parvin, and Kathy Shultz. We rode 180 miles from Sunday River in Bethel to Belfast - 3 days. This year I think there were about 1700 riders; the Lung Association typically raises about 1 million dollars with the TREK, most of which is spent in Maine on anti-smoking programs, particularly targeted to teens, and on allergy research and education. Good cause and very fun ride - well supported, great volunteers! Plus a great way to get in shape in the spring!

Spring 5K - Bar Harbor - June 14, 2003

New England Championship 3K - Cambridge, MA - June 15, 2003. An awesome win for Judson. He writes: It was hot and again like last year I was in a race were the field was better than myself but the conditions kept it slower. With the sun blasting down on us and the temps at about 80, we set out in the New England Championship 3000. Getting to 2-k in a slow time of 6:11, I looked around and found myself in third with everyone from 8:30 guys to 8:50 guys all laboring in the heat. With 800 to go I made a big move, and the field wasn't ready for it, or if they were nobody went. I finished up in 9:01 running my last 1-k in 2:50. The overall time wasn't to impressive, but winning against the guys that were in the race was very exciting. And improving from my 3rd place finish from last year was awesome too.

Cobscook Bay 10K - Pembroke - June 1, 2003. Mike Bunker wins. Brian, still recovering from Sugarloaf, runs 13th. Bill Pinkham and Tom Kirby are respectively 23rd and 26th.