PORTLAND, Maine — Runners from all over the world hit the streets on Sunday to chase a goal many of them spent months training for. The 32nd Maine Marathon had more than 4,000 runners from 46 states and eight countries, the race director said.
Runners participating in the marathon, half marathon, and marathon relay started and finished near Portland's Back Cove. Half marathoners hustled to Falmouth and back, while marathoners ran a bit further to Yarmouth, which was the 26.2 halfway point.
"The crowd support was amazing. I mean the whole race there's people out there cheering you on," Jason Montano, an avid marathoner from Arlington, Massachusetts, said. "Strangers that are out there to tell you how good you're doing, and it's just very motivating. Makes you feel good about the human spirit, you know."
Montano's wife, two young daughters, and mother watched for him as he neared the finish line. His two-year-old daughter stood alongside the street waiting for the perfect moment to join alongside him. With her sweatband on and her race bib fastened, she joined her dad on the last leg of his marathon.
"I mean it's the best feeling in the world to see your children there at the finish line and run across with them," Montano said.
Montano had carried Winter across a marathon finish line before, but this was her first time crossing it with her own two feet.
"It's something that I hope to get my family into, my daughters to do, and that we can do as a family soon," he said.
This year's race raised more than $600,000 which will benefit about 60 local charities, the race director, Bob Dunfey, said. This year's total marks more than $7 million in donations to charities in the races 32 years, he said.
Dunfey has run 144 marathons, and next year he'll run his 34th consecutive Boston Marathon. He said lacing up your shoes to hit the pavement for hours on end can be a bit intimidating, but the spectators who watch make the environment special.
"It's touching," Dunfey said. "Even someone who doesn't know anything about running, they feel it."