LEWISTON/AUBURN – It was like a painting: The three downtown bridges spanning the Androscoggin River were awash in multi-colored shirts, shorts and hats.

The green South Bridge, the rusted brown railroad bridge and the concrete slab that is the Longley Bridge glistened in near mirror-image reflections off of the water below as the pitter-patter of feet provided a subtle soundtrack to an early September Sunday morning.

Hundreds of feet, belonging to runners of all ages, shapes and sizes, wound their way back and forth between the two cities for 3.1 miles during the sixth annual running of the L/A 5K Bridge Run on Sunday, helping to raise money for the L/A Trails organization and promoting healthy living in the Twin Cities.

“There are really two main reasons for this race,” said race director Mike Lecompte. “First, we are raising money for a great cause, L/A Trails, and of course the other is to promote health, and a healthy lifestyle, here in Lewiston/Auburn.”

The race itself wound its way along some of the trails that are part of L/A Trails’ bigger plan to connect a series of existing trails and create a network of walking and biking paths in and around Lewiston and Auburn.

“We want to build a bunch more,” said Lecompte. “We want people to have places to run and walk and bike where they are safe, where they don’t have to worry too much about traffic or anything like that.”

On Sunday, the 3.1-mile course started on the River Road in Auburn, one-tenth of a mile away from the RolloDrome, and took runners first over the South Bridge. A left turn onto Oxford Street took runners into Railroad Park, the site of last month’s Balloon Festival, and then across the river again on the foot bridge that crosses the converted railroad trestle.

A right turn sent runners down the Auburn Riverwalk, one of the existing trails in L/A Trails’ planned network, and another right took runners to the midway point, just across the Longley Bridge, back in Lewiston.

At the top of the longest uphill portion of the race, runners took a right turn onto Canal Street, which took them past the two-mile mark, and then another right on Locust Street.

Lincoln Street returned runners to Cedar Street, where they again crossed the South Bridge and headed for the finish, just outside the RolloDrome across from the new Dunkin’ Donuts shop on River Road.

“We have one of the most beautiful courses for a 5K around,” said Lecompte. “It’s a big reason we get such a good turnout.”

This year, though, the number of runners stagnated after peaking last year at 290 finishers. On Sunday, 284 runners crossed the finish line, the first in 16:09, and the last in 46:16.

Christian Muentener was the overall winner. He disappeared for a cool-down run shortly after finishing the race.

The overall women’s champion was Tina Meserve of Livermore, who finished in 18:39. Meserve, the cross country running coach at Leavitt High School, is the women’s course record holder. Though not a new course record, Meserve was happy with her finish on Sunday.

“I am just trying to race myself back into shape,” said Meserve. “I have been injured for most of the last year, and this is my best time since then. People were asking me if I was going to set another record before the race, and I told them only if an alien invades my body halfway through the race.”

Prizes were awarded in several different age categories, and complete race results are available online at www.coolrunning.com.

“This race had everything from one of the top ten ranked runners in Maine (Muentner), to people running in their first race ever,” said Lecompte. “That is what is so great about this race. No one needs needs to feel intimidated about running here.”