Gary Allen of Great Cranberry Island, founder of both the Mount Desert Island Marathon and the Millinocket Marathon, is among eight people who will be enshrined into the Maine Running Hall of Fame during its 20th induction ceremony on Nov. 11.
The event will be held at the Governor’s Hill Mansion in Augusta.
Joining Allen in the Class of 2018 are Tom Blake, Peter Bottomley, Faye Gagnon, Rock Green, Colin Peddie, Steve Reed and Ed Rice.
Allen began running at Mount Desert Island High School and has never stopped. He is among a select group of individuals who have run sub-three-hour marathons in five different decades. He also contributed to the sport of running as a prolific race director, leading two Maine marathons each year in addition to the the Great Cranberry Island 50K Ultra.
Blake ran for South Portland High School and there he became an assistant scorer for track meets in southern Maine. He has served as the clerk for indoor meets at the Portland Expo for 30 years and is a founding member of the Southern Maine Girls Indoor Track Conference. He has officiated more than 5,000 track meets and created the Maine Corporate Track Association.
Bottomley started a 40-year running career at age 17 with a 4:38 mile split at the 1979 Four on the Fourth in Bridgton. He ran for Oxford Hills High School in South Paris and the University of Maine, and later started the Dirigo RC and ran with the Dirigo Masters cross country squad. He also founded the New England Mile, a fundraising event for Easter Seals.
Gagnon began walking and jogging to stay fit while living in Auburn and has continued running and racing for 41 years. A member and president of the Androscoggin Harriers Running Club, she has competed in more than 400 road races, consistently placing first or second in her age group. As a teacher Gagnon has influenced her students, particularly young women, to join the sport of running, and she has served as a coach with “Girls On the Run.”
Green used running to turn his life around at age 23 after being homeless and addicted to alcohol and tobacco. Within two years, he ran his first marathon at the inaugural Casco Bay Marathon in 2:53:57 to qualify for the Boston Marathon. Since 1978, Green has completed more than 40 marathons and ultramarathons that include 100-milers, 12-hour and 24-hour runs. Green won three different marathons a year in 1981, 1983 and 1985.
Peddie began his running career at Maranacook Community School in Readfield and then at Cheverus of Portland where he led the cross country team to the 1981 Class A state championship. He went on to the University of Virginia where he was a six-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and was named an NCAA Division I All-American in cross country. Peddie later qualified for the 1996 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. More recently he has operated a chain of Marathon Sports retail running stores.
Reed began running at Lincoln Academy in Newcastle where he participated and lettered in cross country and track. He went on to compete for Bowdoin College and then went to the University of Vermont College of Medicine. While in private medical practice in Wiscasset he has continued a streak of running every day for 40 years to place ninth nationally and 10th in the world in that category, according to the U.S. Running Streak Association. In 2019, Reed plans to complete his 30th consecutive Boston Marathon.
Rice created Maine’s Terry Fox Run, the Bangor-based 5K that raised more than $125,000 for cancer research efforts in Maine. While living in Massachusetts he co-founded the Ginny DelVecchio Fund, which later became the Angel Fund to raise money in support of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) research at Massachusetts General Hospital. Rice is a longtime member of the Brewer-based Sub 5 Track Club and has run 27 marathons.
Two races also will be inducted into the Maine Running Hall of Fame this year, the Mid-Winter Classic 10 miler of Portland and the Mount Desert Island Marathon & Half Marathon.
Space for the banquet and induction ceremony is limited so reservations are strongly recommended. Tickets are $25 per person and may be purchased through Event Brite at eventbrite.com/e/2018- maine-running-hall-of-fame-induction-banquet-tickets-49925633915.
