BRIDGTON – Colin Peddie holds the Bridgton Four on the Fourth course record for at least one more year.

After Peddie, who was also this year’s honorary starter, set the record of 18 minutes, 46 seconds in 1987, nobody has been able to top it.

This year’s winner, Jonny Wilson, 23, of Falmouth fought through the heat and humidity to finish in 20:19.

He came into the race thinking of it as a competitive workout. He plans to run the Beach to Beacon 10K in August.

“My goal was to come out here and give it a good effort,” said Wilson, who recently graduated from the University of Richmond.

“Right now I’ve been doing some heavy training. I used this as kind of a workout because my main goal is to train for the Beach to Beacon.”

This was Wilson’s first time running the course, and he admitted it was a challenge. Wilson said the first mile was easy but the hills in the second mile made it tougher.

Richard Klauber, 21, of Thomaston, Conn., finished in second place with a time of 20:36 and Christopher Harmon, 23, of Scarborough came in third, finishing 20 seconds after Klauber.

Erica Jesseman of Scarborough was the first woman to finish, in 22:11, and she agreed with Wilson’s assessment.

“It’s a hard course,” she said. “You don’t realize that after the first mile, the rest is uphill. It’s a very tough course.”

Last year, Jesseman, 22, finished in 23:06.

Despite beating her previous personal record, she still had higher hopes.

She said, “I really wanted to break the record.”

The women’s record is 21:56, set by Michele Hallet in 1987.

Jesseman said the hot and humid conditions didn’t help her, and she had to battle through them physically and psychologically.

“Halfway through it I realized it was really hot and really muggy.

“It was not perfect conditions but I felt pretty (poorly) in it too. My mind was telling me I can’t do this, but I was able to finish.”

Jesseman noted that she trained with fellow Scarborough resident, Kristin Barry, who was the second woman to finish, in 22:42.

Sarah Rebick, 36, of Denmark placed third, in 24:16.

The conditions certainly did not make anything easier for the runners.

Race director Jim Cossey even said that the conditions played a significant and historical role in the race.

“Nobody broke the course record today, but it’s also warm conditions,” Cossey said.

“It’s tough and you don’t run as fast in these conditions.”

Cossey was pleased with the number of participants this year.

He said he believed there were more than 2,000 runners.

According to the race’s official website, the highest turnout in the race’s 35-year history was in 2009 when there were 1,910 runners registered.

This year, 1,849 runners completed the race.

The race likely would have been more enjoyable under cooler, drier conditions.

But in the end, everyone was all smiles — including Wilson and Jesseman.

Wilson was happy to win it, even though it came as a surprise to him.

“It was a good race and I was happy to win it, but I wasn’t really expecting too much,” he said.

Despite coming up short of her expectations, Jesseman was proud of her accomplishments in the end saying that she was proud she was able to overcome what her mind was telling her and finish regardless.

Staff Writer Austin Pollack can be contacted at: 791-6356 or at:

apollack@pressherald.com