Kaine Karp is relatively new to the Maine road running scene. Fair enough, because at age 7, he’s relatively new to the world, period. But the Portland boy has already shown much racing promise.

Last weekend in Newton, Massachusetts, Kaine won the Kids Competitive Mile, an 11-and-under race in which elementary school students from around New England participated. His time was 10 minutes, 48 seconds (the “mile,” four quarter-mile loops on the Boston College campus) and his victory paid off with $250 for Presumpscot Elementary in Portland, where he is a second-grader.

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Seven-year-old Kaine Karp and mother Jodi Theriault could turn into one of Maine’s most prominent running families. Courtesy photo

Last month, Kaine ran the Raccoon Run 5K, a small, weeknight race on Back Cove, and finished eighth overall among of 26 runners in 26:27, or 8:31 pace. A step and a second behind was Jodi Theriault, 33, of Portland. She is Kaine’s mom, also a relatively new phenomenon on the Maine road racing scene, and also enjoying success.

On June 7 at the Runners World Heartbreak Hill Half & Festival (which included Kaine’s race), Theriault ran the 5K and the 10K, in that order. She was the women’s winner in the 5K in 18:23, and fourth woman and age-group winner in the 10K (39:17). Closer to home, she was the fifth woman in the Maine Marathon (3:12:53) last October and recently won the trail 10K at the distance festival at Pineland (42:26).

“That was a lot tougher than the trails behind Deering (her alma mater),” she noted.

Maine was her first attempt at the 26.2-mile distance, and she had not run farther than 15 miles in training. But then, Theriault had done some serious cross-training. She is a competitive bodybuilder and a personal trainer who teaches several classes at World Gym in Portland, so “I’m working out four hours a day anyway,” in addition to raising Kaine and siblings Valerie, 5, and Maverick, 4, with husband Aaron Karp.

When she was pregnant with Kaine, Theriault was up to 203 pounds, so she took up running to drop weight. Today, at 5 feet 3 inches, she is a compact 135 pounds of muscle and energy, and getting faster, often running with Kaine near the family’s camp in Naples, or with training partner/World Gym student Mike Karatsanos.

Theriault’s Maine Marathon goal for this year is to break three hours, then run Boston in 2015. She would also like to beat big brother Eric Theriault in their annual July 4 one-telephone-pole-to-another sprint, which she has never done.

But at the moment she is still enjoying the thrill of Kaine’s mile-plus win. Theriault photographed him breaking the tape held by U.S. Olympian Shalane Flanagan and Paralympic athlete Sarah Reinertson, then sharing the podium with them afterward. “He tells me he wants to be a professional runner,” she said with pride.

THE LONGEST DAY 5K, run on the trails of Libby Hill in Gray, is on for the third year, at 7:15 p.m. next Saturday.

There’s a free trail run for kids beginning at 7 p.m., awards to the top male and female finishers, and raffle prizes. The fee is a throwback $10 in advance, $15 on race day or just plain free if you are a Gray-New Gloucester student.

All fees benefit the 8-mile trail system. Register at https://www.raceit.com/Register/?event=26557, or see libbyhill.org or libbyhillforest on Facebook, or contact John Keller, jkellerrun@yahoo.com.

THE MAINE MARATHON last year bought “Boston Strong” bumper stickers to sell as a benefit for Boston Strong, which has raised more than $1 million for the One Fund Boston charity. Last week, the marathon sent $1,000 to One Fund.

John Rolfe writes about road racing for the Maine Sunday Telegram. He can be contacted at 791-6429 or at

jrolfe@pressherald.com

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