Boothbay Harbor served up another perfect lobster roll on July 27 as about 200 racers convened on Townsend Avenue under sunny skies for the fourth annual Lobster Roll 5K race.

The annual July road race attracts its fair share of local running talent and also draws heavily from the summer visitors that flock to the region. Seventeen states were represented in Saturday’s race and the finishers included runners from the Netherlands and London. Along with the serious competitors, there were fun runners, walkers, kids in strollers, dogs in strollers, and even some flag-wavers.

The Lobster Roll organizing committee and their volunteers were out in force on Saturday, keeping the events flowing and the runners on track. Liz Giles-Brown, who directed traffic on Emery Lane with bullhorn in hand, said everyone involved was pleased with the event’s success.

“We had a lot of runners and walkers tell us what a great time they had and that they will be back again next year,” Giles-Brown said.

The men’s winners circle was dominated by teenagers, who broke away from the pack in the opening seconds of the race and never looked back. Chase Brown, 19,  of Boothbay Harbor, picked up his third Lobster Roll title on Saturday with a finishing time of 15:58. Reilly Friedman, 16, of Atlanta, Georgia, came in mere seconds behind Brown at 16:03 and Robby Keough, 16, also of Atlanta, finished third at 17:26.

The women’s top three was a slightly more diverse group, but youth was again a definite theme. Lauren Perkowski, 14, of Plantsville, Connecticut, finished first at 21:45, followed by Brooke Wright, 11 of Greenwich, New York at 23:21 and Darcy Ytterdahl, 43 of Glenn Ellyn, Illinois, at 23:32.

Along with the top finishers noted above, winners of their gender and age categories, include the East Boothbay Hamblett siblings, Chris,10, and Helen, 12, who won the age 12 and under divisions with times of 23:23 (Chris) and 25:49 (Helen).

Top honors for the 13-19 age division went to Kevin Burdet, 18, of Boothbay (17:59) and Alexa Alsina, of Tampa, Florida, (23:44). Wes Danforth, 28, Winthrop, ME, (18:22), and Kayla Packer, 24, Boston, MA, ( 24:11) won the 20-29 age divisions.

The 30-39 age categories were won by Boothbay’s Nick Scott (17:34) and Jennifer Schwartzman, of Wautoma, WI, (24:13). Greg Hocking,of Wyndmoor, PA, (18:06) and Michelle Bouchard, of Boothbay Harbor, (25:39) won the 40-49 categories.  Mark Gorey, of Boothbay Harbor (22:09) and Ruth Spano, of Denver, CO (26:16) won the 50-59 age divisions.

Doug Roberts, of Boothbay Harbor, and Emily Brown, of East Boothbay, showed that age is just a number, taking the seventh decader’s category with 25:17 and 29:49 finish times, respectively.

Three 70-plus runners completed the course on Saturday. James Whalen, of Ossining, NY finished at 36:12, Mary Drake of Boothbay at 38:56 and Beverly, McCoid,of Charlottesville, VT at 52:25.

Lobster Roll team competition gets more intense with each passing year. This year’s event drew seven teams: Boothbay Region schools, two YMCA total body challenge teams, Oak Street Provisions, Carousel Music Theater, Boothbay Craft Brewery and Boothbay Harbor Inn. The YMCA team of Andy Hamblett, Chris Hamblett, Sara Yentsch and Diane Gimbel faced stiff competition but was able to take home the team trophy on Saturday.

“I love that we had a lot more teams entered this year, Giles-Brown said, “I hope that catches on and keeps growing.”  

The 5K race was followed by a kids (and families) 1 mile fun run and an awards ceremony at the Boothbay Region High School campus.

All proceeds from the LobsterRoll 5K benefit the Community Track fundraising effort.

For more information, go to www.lobsterroll5k.com.

For full race results, visit http://www.coolrunning.com/results/13/me/Jul27_Boothb_set1.shtml

Sue Mello can be reached at 207-844-4629 or suemello@boothbayregister.com.