If you attended a party at Northeastern University’s Melvin Hall in the early 1970s, that falsetto voice you heard, crooning the Bee Gees or Frankie Valli? That was Kenny Flanders.

“He had an amazing sense of humor,” said Danny Paul, a lifelong friend of Flanders. “People couldn’t wait for him to show up.”

One of the all-time greats of Maine distance running, Flanders died Monday after a brief illness. He was 72.

A three-time cross country state champion while running for Deering High, Flanders went on to an outstanding career at Northeastern, where he became the New England Division I indoor track champion in the 2-mile, and the 6-mile champ in the outdoor season in 1973. Flanders raced in the 1973 NCAA cross country championship in Spokane, Washington, where he stayed within 1 minute, 27 seconds of the great Steve Prefontaine on the hilly 6-mile course.

When the Maine Running Hall of Fame was selecting its inaugural class in 1989, Flanders was an easy selection.

“The mission of the Hall of Fame is to remember and revere the legacy of running in Maine,” said Don Harden, chairman of the Maine Running Hall of Fame since 2016. “It really indicates how accomplished (Flanders) was as a competitor.”

When Harden started running in 1981, he liked to study the strongest runners, the ones he saw practically pawing at the ground at the start with their shoes before the gun went off. Flanders was one of those runners, one of the runners like Harden looked up to and aspired to be like.

Brian Flanders, Ken’s nephew, said day-to-day, his uncle was one of the funniest people he knew. Always quick with a quip, Brian said. Able to tell stories about his running exploits, sprinkling in the right amount of humor.

“People would ask him, was there every a schoolboy in Maine who gave you a run and challenged you?” Brian said. “He would say, ‘yes, one kid. Stop Watch.’ That’s classic Ken Flanders humor.”

Flanders and Paul were kids together on Munjoy Hill. Eventually, Flanders went to Deering and Paul to Portland High. Two grades behind Flanders in school, Paul used his friend as a surrogate coach after Flanders went on to a postgrad year at North Yarmouth Academy, and then to Northeastern.

“I would … call Kenny and ask what I should be doing (to train),” said Paul, a longtime English teacher and cross country coach at Falmouth High. “In high school, I said, if I could chase Kenny. I didn’t beat him. I ran PR (personal record) after PR just chasing him.”

Flanders began a pipeline of some of the best runners in Maine going to Northeastern. Paul, Larry Greer, Steve Jaynes, Bruce Bickford and Erik Nedeau are among the top Maine runners who went on to Northeastern after Flanders.

“Kenny set the tone. Once he found that, it opened up all those doors,” Paul said. “When I was struggling, he would encourage me. Of course, when he was struggling, I tried to do the same, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

That stubborn streak is what made Flanders a great competitor. It helped him win the Portland Boys’ Club 5-mile race seven times. When Flanders was running it in the ’70s and ’80s, the Boys’ Club race was the most prestigious road race in Maine, held every Patriots’ Day.

“Ken considered the Portland Boys’ Club race to be the state championship. All the best runners would show up,” Brian said.

No matter the race, Flanders ran aggressively, daring the field to keep up with him.

“My dream was to just finish second to Kenny in a race. I accomplished that in 1984 in the Westbrook Kiwanis 5-mile road race. We beat some good runners that day,” Brian said. “Kenny never gave an inch in a race.”

Flanders was happy to pass on his knowledge of running and racing. In the late ’80s, he wrote a running column for the Press Herald. In his job in management with Olympia Sports in the Maine Mall, runners would come to the store hoping to be fitted for a pair of shoes by the great Kenny Flanders.

“It’s hard to be on top for so many years. People like Kenny aren’t around anymore,” Harden said.

There will be a celebration of Flanders’ life on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Forest Gardens (371 Forest Ave.), his favorite watering hole. It starts at 1 p.m., and Brian invites anyone to come and share stories about his uncle, and raise a drink in his memory. The following day, Nov. 10, he’ll be remembered and honored at the Maine Running Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Governor Hill Mansion in Augusta.

He wouldn’t want a fancy service, Brian said. Tell stories. Laugh. Sing a Frankie Valli song at the top of your lungs.