STANDISH — Dark clouds brought intermittent periods of rain throughout Wednesday at Bonny Eagle High School, but it didn’t bother the cross country runners participating in the annual SMAA Relays.

In fact, the weather was a welcome sight.

“Personally, I love running in the rain,” said Portland senior Owen Blades. “It’s a nice little cool-down. You get super hot when running so it’s nice in that aspect.”

The annual SMAA Relays event is the unofficial kickoff to the high school cross country season. Runners take off in 18 different heats — nine for the boys, nine for the girls — on a course that begins and ends on the high school track, while in between cutting through the backyard of the neighboring middle school and through the adjoining woods to provide a scenic run.

“This meet was held by previous coaches here (at Bonny Eagle) for the last six or seven years,” said Bonny Eagle boys coach Ben Davis. “Fortunately they were nice enough to come here and help run some stuff and help with everything, put me through my paces … because there’s a lot of stress putting all of this on.”

The SMAA Relays is one of just a few notable cross country races of its kind — the Mt. Blue Relays in Farmington is another — that take place each year in Maine. For coaches, the event is a nice way to do some early scouting and break in runners on a course that’s shorter than the typical 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) distance of most races.

“It’s nice because it’s such an odd distance that you don’t have to worry about the time,” Davis said. “We don’t need to break (the race) down by the half-mile. Just go out and run. It gives a good chance to look at everyone’s No. 1 and No. 2 (runners), so with the matchups, that helps. Just get out there, run, see who’s around you and see the kind of hand you’ve been dealt.”

“(The relays) gives nine different boys and nine different girls a chance to win a race,” added Portland coach Frank Myatt. “Your (No. 6 or No. 7 runners have) likely never won a race before. All of a sudden, something clicks and a kid in the middle of your pack is pushing their way in because of what they’ve done in a meet like this.”

For runners, the relays are a confidence builder and a way to test their offseason and preseason work.

“We can have guys who might not (usually) lead a race, but go out and lead (a heat),” Blades said. “It’s a good confidence-builder for a lot of our guys who may not be leading every race, but they’re out front today.”

“It’s also fun doing a shorter race,” added Portland senior Sylvie Holmes. “It lets us get in some more speed work and gives everyone a chance to get that (heat) win.”

Relays also provide the chance for runners to cheer on teammates. During a traditional cross country race, male runners are all competing at the same time. Same for female runners.

“I love getting to watch my other teammates run, where I might not always get the chance to watch them run,” said Cheverus senior Grace Beeler.

“It’s great because you can watch your teammates finish (their heat),” added Cheverus freshman Sally Pierce. “I think it also gives you a great sense of where you are (as a runner) in a smaller group. It’s also nice to just change things up.”