2021 Recap

It was a great day for marathon newcomers, as two runners making their debuts at 26.2 miles were the overall champions in the 30th edition of the Gorham Savings Bank Maine Marathon.

First-time marathoners took five of the top seven places in the men’s division, led by Jacob Terry, 24, of Scarborough. Terry passed two runners in the final two miles, first overtaking former University of Maine teammate Aaron Willingham, then surging past Ryan Eiler before pulling away for the victory. Terry’s official time was 2 hours, 25 minutes and 27 seconds – exactly one minute ahead of Willingham, 24, of Portland. Kevin Greene, 29, of Kennebunk was third in 2:27:15, and Eiler, 35, of Hyde Park, Mass., faded to fourth 2:27:45.

Abby Hamilton, 22, of Yarmouth was even more impressive while winning the women’s division. Not knowing what to expect from her first marathon, the 2021 Bates College graduate dusted her competition and broke a long-standing course record, as her time of 2:39:38 was 16 seconds faster than the mark set by Emily LeVan in 2004. Hamilton was more than 10 minutes faster than runner-up Purity Munene, 34, of Columbia, S.C., whose time of 2:50:07 would have been fast enough to win all but four previous editions of the race. Clare Franco, 31, of Boston was third in 2:52:24, followed by Sarah Mulcahy, 36, of Fort Kent (2:53:16) and Betsy Burke, 37, of Rye, N.Y. (2:53:25).

Jarrod Ottman, 23, of Merrimack, N.H., was initially declared the winner of the half marathon, but race officials learned afterward that the first three runners, including Nick Matteucci of St. Louis and Jonathan Briskman of Northampton, Mass., were directed slightly off course by the lead vehicle and other volunteers, causing them to cut about a tenth of a mile off the course. Nicholas Denari, 28, of Portland (1:11:34) was elevated from fourth place to first in the official results, followed by Jesse Orach, 27, of Auburn (1:12:07), Nathan Madeira, 26, of Portland (1:13:53), Rob Gomez, 38, of Biddeford (1:14:10) and Greg Ferland, 27, of Cambridge, Mass. (1:15:13).

Former Ellsworth High and Georgetown University runner Aleta Looker, 25, of Somerville, Mass., took the women’s half marathon title by a wide margin, finishing in 1:17:44. Alyson Ursiny (1:24:32), 33, of Yarmouth edged Phoebe Oehmig (1:24:35), 24, of Brunswick for second place, and master’s division champion Sheri Piers, 50, of Falmouth was fourth in 1:24:57.

I Thought This Was a 5K V2.0 was the fastest of 102 relay teams, posting a time of 2:51:48 to win the men’s overall division. Other division winners were:

• Female’s overall, Where Are We??, 3:07:32
• Mixed overall, Gemmer and Skerritt, 3:21:42
• Mixed masters, Family Times, 3:32:24
• Female masters, Betty Ballers, 3:40:12
• Male masters, Cape Crusaders, 3:42:35