Comment on Speed racer as a kid now one of state’s top high school cross-country runners

Sheer speed was Dan McCarthy’s childhood athletic ambition. “Ever since I was in first and second grade it was always about who was the fastest kid on the playground, so I was always running,” the Bangor High School sophomore said. “I’d run next to the car when my mom was driving, so I could see how many miles an hour I was going.” Yet McCarthy never competitively ran a distance longer than 400 meters until joining the Rams’ cross-country team as a freshman in 2018 after playing soccer through his middle school years. Barely 14 months later, he not only leads Bangor’s varsity pack, but he also is now among the state’s best after a runner-up finish at the recent Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions in Belfast. “I’ve always liked to be the fastest, that’s kind of been my thing,” McCarthy said.