PORTLAND — Runners weren’t about to let a little rain and wind stop them from taking to the streets Sunday for the 82nd Patriot’s Day 5-Miler.

As it turned out, they didn’t have to worry about rain, because an overnight storm passed through a couple hours before the noon start.

“The sun is out right now and so I’m very happy,” race director Tony Myatt said. “Like one of the runners said to me this morning, ‘The running gods smiled down on us today.’ It’s pretty much a miracle, because I didn’t know what the weather would be or how many people would turn out.”

Louie Luchini of Ellsworth won the race with a time of 24 minutes, 20 seconds, recording his first victory in the historic race. Luchini, who finished second to Patrick Tarpy last year, averaged a 4:52 per mile.

“I was surprised to run so quickly this year,” said Luchini, who was elected as a state representative last fall. “I’m not in that great of shape and the last few months have been really difficult to train with serving in the legislature. And with the winter we had with all of the snow, it was hard to run consistently in that.”
“But, overall, I am happy with my time. It’s a great race.”

Luchini, who won by almost two minutes, said he started to pull away from the pack after the first mile. Freeport’s Josh Zolla finished second (26:07) and Chris Harmon of Scarborough placed third (26:29).

On the women’s side, Heidi Westover took the crown for the second time, finishing in 29:29 despite battling illness in the days leading up to the race.

Meredith Freimer of Portland placed second (31:03) and Kristine Guaraldo of South Portland was third (31:24).