It may not have been as fast as 2009, but Sheri Piers should return to Falmouth a fairly happy woman after her run in the Boston Marathon.
The 38-year-old recorded the best finish by the 200-plus Maine athletes entered in Monday’s race, covering the 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 40 minutes, 46 seconds.
She finished 22nd among the elite female athletes and was the seventh American finisher.
Piers ran fairly solid splits, going through the first five kilometers in 18:08 and hitting the 10K (6.2-mile) mark in 36:45.
After going through the half-marathon point in 1:18:40, she slowed up a bit over the next 15 kilometers, but still averaged a solid 6:08 per mile over the difficult course.
Piers’ effort came less than 24 hours after training partner Kristin Pierce-Barry had convincingly won the Boys and Girls’ Club 5-miler in Portland, recording the second-fastest time in that race’s history at 27:57.
Time-wise, Patrick Fournier of Rome was Maine’s fastest Boston Marathon finisher.
Fournier, 34, finished in 2:36:44, the lone Mainer to average under 6 minutes per mile (5:59).
He finished 147th overall and 133rd among male competitors.
Fournier ran close to a negative split, going through the halfway point in 1:17:19.
The top eastern Maine finisher was Gary Allen of Great Cranberry Island, a marathon veteran competing in his 18th Boston Marathon.
Allen, the MDI Marathon race director, broke the illusive 3-hour mark yet again, as the 53-year-old covered the course in 2:55:33, averaging 6:42 per mile.
Allen also finished 24th in his age group (50-59).
Other local finishers were: Randy MacDonald of Hampden, 3:01:13; Mark Wanner of Bar Harbor, 3:06:43; John Viechnicki of Bar Harbor, 3:07:57; Amanda Labelle of Rockland, who won last summer’s Bangor Labor Day 5-mile race, in 3:09:48.
Veteran runner Jim Newett of Ellsworth finished in 3:14:36 while Stephen Whalen of Bernard came in at 3:27:33, Rick Lyons of Hampden posted a 3:32:39, Geoffrey James of Rockport clocked a 3:34:01, Millinocket’s Julie Brown ran 3:34:42 and Colleen Porter of Bernard completed the race in 3:36:58.
Rounding out the area’s finishers were: Lawrence Salvador of Belfast, 3:43:04; Tania Blunden of Hampden, 3:43:07; Michele Gagnon of Ellsworth, 3:48:36; Bonnie Gallagher of Camden, 3:54:02; Douglas Johnstone, also of Camden, 3:55:00; Claire Redding of Bangor, 4:05:35; Pam Wallace of Rockland, 4:13:03; Marilyn Hintz of Stillwater, 4:23:48; Thomas Henaghen of Hampden, 4:38:20; Jeanne Butterfield of Bangor, 4:45:25 and Art Warren of Camden, 4:57:42.
A total of 166 Maine runners wound up finishing the race. In all, 207 had signed up to compete.
