PORTLAND (AP) – The decade-old Maine Distance Festival was scrapped for this year after plans fell through for a Boston company to take over the running of the track meet, director Steve Podgajny said.

“It’s a disappointment, but in the long-term interest of the meet and its health, it was the best thing to do,” he said. “We have a standard for the meet, believed it had reached a certain level of excellence, and wanted to maintain that. It was our guiding principle.”

The festival was held annually, usually in early July, for the last 10 years at Whittier Field on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick.

Earlier this year, Podgajny and other organizers decided the meet had reached a size that surpassed the organizing ability of a team of volunteers.

Aside from aligning elite runners and gathering prize money, organizers set up transportation from nearby airports, housing at the college and a host of other tasks.

Podgajny wouldn’t reveal the name of the Boston sports-management company that he expects will take over the meet next year.

“It’s a great meet right now, but to have taken it to another level is what we wanted,” said Podgajny. “We were counting on another group doing it, but the final resolution didn’t happen early enough.”

Timing was a factor in the decision. The meet, traditionally run on the July 4 weekend, would have moved to June because of the Olympic trials July 9-18 in Sacramento, Calif. Organizers couldn’t nail down a new date.

Erik Nedeau of Kennebunk ran in the festival and tried to become the first runner in Maine to break 4 minutes in the mile. He said he has had some wonderful experiences running at the Maine Distance Festival.

“I’m bummed and disappointed, as I would think everybody who has been there would be,” he said. “I think I take it a little more personally being from Maine.”