Above, runners kick off the 39th annual Montague Mug Race on Saturday morning in Montague Center. Below, left, Greenfield’s Ben Whitbeck heads toward the finish en route to taking first place overall. At right, Greenfield’s Amy O’Sullivan heads for home to capture the women’s title.
Above, runners kick off the 39th annual Montague Mug Race on Saturday morning in Montague Center. Below, left, Greenfield’s Ben Whitbeck heads toward the finish en route to taking first place overall. At right, Greenfield’s Amy O’Sullivan heads for home to capture the women’s title. Credit: STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

For Greenfield’s Ben Whitbeck, Saturday proved to be the perfect day to cruise through the hills and back roads of Montague Center.

The 42-year-old tasted victory at the 39th Montague Mug Race, traversing the 5.5-mile course in 33 minutes, 13 seconds, to take home a coveted pewter mug from the long-running event.

Whitbeck’s time was good enough for a 6 minute, 2 second/mile pace. He was 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Aaron Stone, also of Greenfield, who crossed in 33:30.

Greenfield’s Amy O’Sullivan was the clear winner in the women’s division. The Westfield State standout and former GHS star runner was third overall and the first woman across in 35:55, a crisp 6:32/mile pace. That was almost five minutes ahead of the rest of the women’s pack.

Ashfield’s Brandon Osman took fourth overall with a time of 38:24, followed in fifth place by Leverett’s Brian Pickell (39:22), who was the first veteran across the line.

Erving’s Robert Bezio (sixth, 39:31), Leverett’s Edward Appel (seventh, 40:08), Greenfield’s Laure Raffensperger (eighth, 40:38), Hadley’s Jeff Mish (ninth, 41:13) and Northampton’s Kath Boyer (10th, 41:55) rounded out the top 10 overall finishers, with Raffensperger and Boyer the second and third women to place.

Hatfield’s Brian Williams (11th overall, 42:13) took first in the men’s senior division, while Alice McKeon of Worcester (12th, 42:26) was the first women’s senior division runner to finish.

The rest of the top 20 finishers were Hadley’s Erin Cassidy (13th, 42:47), Greenfield’s Tom Raffensperger (14th, 43:13), Becky Zukowski of Greenfield (15th, 44:05), Montague’s Daniel Skarzynski (16th, 44:37), Hadley’s Miranda Piris (17th, 44:38), Greenfield’s Tony Thurston (18th, 44:50), Bernardston’s Nicole Couture (19th, 45:02) and Northampton’s James Farrick (20th, 45:06).

Hatfield’s Jeff Folts was the winner of the 70-plus division, finishing 24th overall with a time of 45:39. Annie Ryan of Florence was the first women’s veteran in 38th position (52:56), while Betsy Cale took women’s 70-plus top honors.