The Maine-iacs, a Bangor-based team, finished third again this year in the Cabot Trail Relay at Cape Breton over Memorial Day weekend. And they were the No. 1 mixed (as in men and women) team. And they did a bit better than last year, being third among 50, up from 45, teams.

Their success was achieved because of, or despite, depending on who you talk to, most of the women's being assigned to run legs through darkest night. Judd Esty-Kendall of Glenburn began the 185-mile race at 7 a.m; the 17th and final leg started at 8:46 the following morning. The Maine-iacs' total time was about 19 hours. (Runners of each leg start together, so there are breaks between what become 17 separate races.)

Newell Lewey of Veazie ran two legs last year but this time restricted himself to the final, 17.7-K leg. His 63:05, a 5:44 pace that "had a 10-mile PR somewhere in there," would have won the leg last year. This year it was fifth, but still took 6 minutes off team captain Peter Millard's 1995 time.

The entire course is renowned for its beauty and difficulty, andnotable mountain legs were run by Peter Dauphinee, Rick Chalmers and Kevin "Rhino" Dow.

Chalmers, of Portland, won the ninth, 17.8-K leg, down the backside of villainous North Mountain, said Lewey. "We were joking about his 12-foot strides." Dauphinee conquered Mount Smoky, one of Lewey's assignments last year.

Dow ran Mount MacKenzie, known as "The Snake," a long, winding uphill. He finished his leg in 3 inches of snow, Lewey said, as the race saw "every form of weather imaginable," including bright sun, hail, sleet, and howling winds. Jessica Babin of Presque Isle followed Dow, down the backside of the mountain in the snow, starting at 11:23 p.m.

The women also included Katrina Bisheimer of Bangor, who set a women's record on the 13th leg last year, ran the 19.8-K 14th leg this year and won that women's race. Nichi Farnham, Mary Louise McEwen, Annette Clein, Erin Semba and Laura Zegel, all of Bangor, ran with distinction, and through the wee hours. Ed Rice, the well-known journalist imperfectly transplanted to Massachusetts, and Bangorians Lee Clein, Jan Semba, Greg Dorr ran were the other men running. A Canadian team called Road Kill finished first.