CAPE ELIZABETH – When you have a race involving 5,000 runners representing 48 states and nine countries, it’s easy to forget about the locals.

Unless you are one, of course.

When they’re 3,178-racers strong and 483 of those are right from the town it’s being held in, the locals weren’t about to be forgotten at the 5th annual Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K.

For the second year in a row, Freeport’s Andy Spaulding and Dayton’s Christine Snow-Reaser were Maine’s top male and female finishers at Saturday’s world-class road race.

Spaulding received the $1,000 prize as Maine’s top finisher even though he wasn’t technically the first Mainer to cross the finish line. Ellsworth native and Stanford University standout Louie Luchini finished 13th in 30 minutes, 8 seconds. Because of his standing as a collegiate athlete, Luchini was ineligible for the cash prize.

A former Maine resident, Matt Lane, was eighth in 29:16. Lane, a Yarmouth High grad, was an All-American at William & Mary and lives in Palo Alto, Calif. And former Waynflete star Susannah Beck returned to Maine from Eugene, Ore., and finished seventh in the women’s race (33:47).

It was a surprising result for both runners as Spaulding expected to do better after doing a better job of getting himself in shape for this year’s race while Snow-Reaser suffered yet another injury which not only made her doubt her ability to defend her title, but threatened her ability to run at all.

“It just seems like when I’m in great shape, something always happens to me. I should stay in a glass bubble or something,” said the West Germany-born Air Force brat who grew up in Old Orchard Beach and ran for the Seagulls. “Even last night I did something stupid.

“I was down in the basement talking on the phone and I saw like a mouse or something and I jumped up on the foosball table and I hurt my tailbone. I was crying and thinking I wouldn’t be able to run. It was really sore this morning, but I think it helped me take the focus off the race and it helped me.”

Snow Reaser, a five-time race participant, overcame the sapping heat and finished 13th overall with a time of 36:30.

“I guess it’s just my focus because it’s kind of the unofficial Maine championship and having the elite status of all the national and world-class runners who are here,” she said.

Spaulding, a Searsport native who has competed in the race twice now after moving back to Maine from Connecticut, was shocked he was the top Mainer last year, given his lack of pre-race conditioning.

“It’s funny. Last year I was in real poor shape because we were renovating a house and I’d been on a lot of ladders and on my knees. I wasn’t that fit, but I surprised myself and ran a fantastic race in 31:29,” said the former University of Maine runner. “This year my fitness was really good, so I thought I had a shot at the [Maine] course record [30:52], but with all the heat and humidity, it was a lot tougher to run.”

The Beach to Beacon attracts a true cross-section of runners – from the accomplished like Spaulding and Snow-Reaser, who run as many as 30 races per year to rank amateurs, recreational runners, and accomplished Maine runners who’ve never run the course before.

“I really liked the course. It’s fun to run on. I’d never run or seen the course before,” said Ellsworth’s Luchini. “I’d like to do this race again, so once I’m out of college, I’ll probably be able to do it again.”

The two-time All-American runner entering his senior year at Stanford University finished 13th overall with a time of 30:08.

“My coach wanted me to run around 30 minutes, so I was right there,” he said. “I didn’t go all out in the race today and went out slow and conservative because of the heat.”

Then there are those who run these races strictly for enjoyment.

“This is my first time doing this because it’s the first year I was available to do it,” said Portland’s Celeste Biron. “I just decided to do this because it seemed like fun. I see something and then I do it.

“I did nothing to prepare, didn’t train at all. I just woke up and came here.”

Despite not having run for two months, Biron said she thought the course was easier than she expected it to be.

“The toughest part was the start,” said Biron, who ran a time of 1:04:28. “Next year, I’m going to start toward the front more because I think that’ll cut off a few hundred people. I started at the very end this year and that wasn’t a good idea.”