A Windham man was a bit of a celebrity at this year’s 109th running of the Boston Marathon held on Patriot’s Day. The fame did not arise from his finish time, but rather from his stamina.

Before the start of the world’s oldest annually contested marathon, Carlton Mendell was approached by a number of Portland area marathoners wondering if he was the man featured in local newspaper and television coverage before the big race.

Then, at the start line area for the race, the announcer told the crowd of runners, spectators, media people and race officials that the oldest racer that day was Carlton Mendell, 83, of Windham, Maine.

“Throughout the start, other runners were asking, is that you? Even during the race I had people run up to me and ask about it,” said Mendell.

“I felt fine, but that last six miles never gets any shorter,” said the octogenarian, back at his home on Tuesday. “It gets really hectic with all that Boston traffic. I heard there were 14,000 first-timers in the group of over 20,000 runners.”

About his finish, Mendell said, “I didn’t break six hours like I hoped, but I beat my time from last year by 23 minutes. I finished in 6:43 by my sports watch. They need to do a better job at the finish line in Boston. For New York, they keep the times right through nine hours or so. They turned the clock off here at six o’clock.”

Jack Flemming, director of communications for the Boston Athletic Association, said about Mendell, “We have about three dozen runners with consecutive streaks of 25 or more ‘Bostons.’ Anytime a racer strings together five or more ‘Bostons’ that is a remarkable feat. Without good health, or a good support system at home with a lot of cooperation, these people couldn’t continue to run. They think about the third Monday in April for 365 days a year. It is definitely not an accident. We call them ‘streakers’ and to see someone run five straight, then 10, then 15 and into the 20s is a phenomenal thing. Carlton Mendell is in an elite group. It isn’t about his running time anymore though, it is about his stamina and focus.”

Mendell’s next marathon will be on May 15 in Sugarloaf, Maine, followed by the Ottawa Marathon, held in Canada on Memorial Day. Of the 160 marathons Mendell has run, over half are races he has competed in for over 25 years straight.

About his 28th marathon in Boston, Mendell said, “This was an average marathon for me. It was not too hot, and not too windy. I got a little blister, because of my shoes, but last year I took some water over my head and I got my shoes wet. I should have known better, because I got a lot of blisters from the wet shoes. I forgot about that for the moment and remembered when the blisters popped up.”

“It is nice to be alive and able to do this,” finished Mendell.

Other Lakes Region finishers were Robin Dressel, 41, Windham, who finished in 7,519th place with a time of 3:43:16; T.J. Hesler, 36, Steep Falls, finishing 4,015th in a time of 3:32:05; and Tom Noonan, 33, Steep Falls, with a time of 3:50:57 in 7,004th place.

Hesler and Noonan, friends and training partners from Steep Falls, were separated by almost 3,000 runners, though the difference in their finish times was only some 21 minutes.

Flemming said, “The finishers between 3:15 and 3:45 represent our heaviest density. The race is run with qualifiers who therefore have similar times. That is our busiest period.”

Carlton Mendell, a Windham resident and the oldest entry, warms up near the start line of the Boston Marathon on Monday.

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