Top runners return to Maine> Saturday marks third edition of popular Beach to Beacon 10K

For the second time this summer, some of the world’s top runners will make Maine an Olympic training ground.

Last month, many of the competitors at Bowdoin College’s Maine Distance Festival used the races there to prepare for the U.S. Olympic Trials or to meet Olympic time standards. Saturday, at least three athletes in the third annual Peoples’ Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth will use the road race to ready themselves for the Sydney Olympics.

The Beach to Beacon was founded by 1984 Olympic marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, a native of Cape Elizabeth.

Lidia Simon of Romania, a favorite in the marathon, Marian Sutton of Great Britain, who will also compete in the marathon, and Libbie Hickman, a member of the U.S. team at 10,000 meters, are slated to compete.

Anne Marie Lauck, fourth in the U.S. trials at 10K and fifth at 5K, has also registered. Lauck has an outside chance of being named to the 5K team because two women who finished ahead of her in that race at the trials, Regina Jacobs and Deena Drossin, have also qualified for the U.S. teams at 1,500 meters and 10K, respectively. Jacobs and Drossin may opt to run just one race at the Olympics, and then Lauck would be awarded a spot.

Race president Dave Weatherbie said the race comes at an ideal time, and is at an ideal distance, for long-distance runners to use it in their buildup for the Olympics.

“I think the athletes coming here still view the summer games as a ways away; [the games] are eight or nine weeks out. They view this as an opportunity to gain some strength,” he said.

Last year’s winners, Khalid Khannouchi, a new U.S. citizen, and Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, will try and defend their titles.

Two months after winning last year’s Beach to Beacon, Khannouchi set a world record in the marathon, running two hours, five minutes, 42 seconds at the Chicago marathon. In April, the former citizen of Morocco was injured while finishing third in the London marathon.

Khannouchi had hoped to recover in time to run the U.S. Olympic marathon trials, or even last month’s track trials. He could not regain his form quickly enough, however, and the Beach to Beacon will be his first race since the injury. It will also be his first race as a U.S. citizen.

Ndereba, who has won the Beach to Beacon in each of its first two years, won the Boston marathon in April in 2:26:11. She seems to be in top form this summer, winning the prestigious Utica (N.Y) Boilermaker 15K road race on July 9.

Weatherbie said there are plenty of other athletes to challenge Khannouchi.

“He’s gonna have his hands full. There are at least three guys who can take it out [fast] and test him,” he said.

Joseph Kimani of Kenya, second in the race last year, and Reuben Cheriuyot of Kenya, currently the world’s top ranked road racer, highlight the top challengers. Fellow Kenyans Hezron Otwori and Abel Ondeyo should also contend.

Ndereba will have plenty of competition besides the women who are in training for the Olympics. Eyursalem Kuma of Ethiopia and Yuko Arimori of Japan have also registered.

The race has a prize purse of over $50,000. The first male and female receive $7,500 each, the top masters (age 40 and over) receive $2,000, and the first wheelchair finishers receive $1,000. The race also features cash prizes for the first three finishers from Maine, with $1,000 for first, $500 for second and $250 for third.

Bob Winn of Ogunquit and Julia Kirtland of South Harpswell have won the Maine division each of the past two years. Winn should be challenged again by Todd Coffin of Freeport, second last year, and Byrne Decker of Yarmouth, the Maine Marathon champ.

Kirtland, a former U.S. national champion at the marathon, is a heavy favorite. Last year’s second place finisher, Christine Snow-Reaser of Biddeford, returns. Jo-Ann Nealey of Northport, a fixture at the front of the pack in Bangor area road races, will compete in the race for the first time and should also contend.

The proceeds from this year’s race will beFarm in New Gloucester, a group home for children currently in the custody of the Maine Department of Human Services. The tall ship Californian will also be docked at the finish at Fort Williams Park and will be open for tours and sails later in the day at the Maine State Pier. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Turning Point Farm.