When it is mentioned to Amanda Labelle that many excellent marathoners don’t reach their prime until they’re in their 30s, she laughs (one of many such bursts punctuating the conversation).

“Let’s hope so!” she adds.

Already, at age 27, Labelle has some marathon excellence to her credit. Last Sunday she won the Sugarloaf Marathon for the third straight year, in 3 hours, 3 minutes and 4 seconds. It wasn’t as fast as she’d hoped, she admits — she ran 2:58:24 there in her 2009 victory — but she didn’t mind the heavy mist and the rain.

“I love running in it,” she says. “It was nice during the race. Just, the standing around in the stuff after came back to get me, and I had a nasty head cold.”

Rather, at Sugarloaf she probably wasn’t fully recovered from last month’s Boston Marathon, where she ran 3:02:59, and so her beat-up quads began to betray her some time after halfway.

Her four victories in eight “lifetime” marathons (all in the past three years) are notable. Labelle is quick to point out that she’s gone sub-3 only once. But one could counter that someone who can run the same time at the famously hilly MDI Marathon — which she won in 3:03:28 in 2009 — as at Sugarloaf, has some pretty serious potential.

“I guess the way I feel right now is like, I know I can run faster,” she allows. “I just need to step back and regroup and really get after it.”

So far, Labelle’s approach has been pretty casual. Pre-marathon weeks edge into the 80s for mileage, and she once hit 100, a personal first, but she doesn’t do a lot of cross-training. Some runners can (and do) recite their races, paces, etc., etc., … But Labelle is not sure what her halfway split was at Sugarloaf, can only approximate when asked for marathon times, and can’t confirm that she won the Maine Half Marathon in 2004 (she did, in 1:27:04).

Asked her 10K PR, she ventures that it’s “probably whatever I did at Beach to Beacon this past year” which was a 39:25, which she followed with a 39:40 victory in the Rockland Lobster Festival the very next day.

“I’ve never really trained specifically for that shorter distance,” Labelle says. “I used to hate them, and now they’re fun, but I don’t think I’m quick enough to be a force in 5Ks and 10Ks.”

Once upon a time, back at Windham High School, her soccer skills were found wanting (she laughs about that) and so as a senior she ran cross country, in addition to track. During college at teamless Simmons, where she majored in philosophy and international relations, Labelle trained with the Greater Boston Track Club. She went on to earn a master’s degree, in public administration, at Cornell, and now works at the nonprofit Island Institute in Rockland, dealing with a range of marine affairs including commercial fisheries, waterfront access and offshore wind energy.

More marine affairs are in Labelle’s immediate future. She’ll be heading to Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail Relays on Memorial Day weekend, aiming to help the Maine Road Hags defend their title. In mid-July, Labelle will return to the Great Cranberry Ultra, a 50K, which she won last year in 4:00:44. (Check out the race video on YouTube — that’s Labelle in her Crow Athletics gear.)

Beyond that, there’s B2B, and the MDI half in September. Plus the MDI Marathon again in October, and probably another fall marathon. Don’t be surprised to see an even primer time, or two. …

The Run for Honduras enjoyed a successful debut last June, raising more than $3,000 toward a mission to the town of El Triunfo. How do you define success?

“Doctors on this trip (which took place in February) were able to see over 700 patients and deliver over 2,500 prescriptions to folks in this extremely rural and impoverished community,” notes race director Marilyn Sinnett. “Additionally, a construction team was able to build a kindergarten classroom with supplies purchased using proceeds from the race.”

The 5-mile loop out of Falmouth High School is on for Saturday, June 11, at 9 a.m. and will again feature a free kids’ run at 8:30, postrace Honduran-style breakfast, bracelets made in Honduras, and more.

The fee is $15/18; T-shirts go to the first 100. Sign up and learn more at www.hondurasmission.us. All proceeds go toward the next mission, scheduled for 2013.

John Rolfe of Portland is a staff writer and a road runner. He can be reached at 791-6429 or at:

jrolfe@pressherald.com