CAPE ELIZABETH – Today’s eighth annual TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K road race has a Maine flavor to it.

For starters, two of the best runners to lace up their shoes in the Pine Tree State – Yarmouth native Matt Lane and Jeff Gaudette of Biddeford -return to their native land to compete in the 6.2-mile race from Crescent Beach to the Portland Head Light at Fort Williams State Park.

And, three Maine high school stars will run against each other one last time in perhaps the deepest Maine men’s division ever.

“I think on the Maine side, on the men’s side especially, it’s the strongest field ever assembled,” said race founder and Maine running legend Joan Benoit Samuelson after a pre-race press conference at the Inn by the Sea Friday. “With Jeff and Matt and Ethan [Hemphill] and Andy [Spaulding] and Eric Giddings, it doesn’t get much stronger than that.

In addition to Maine’s top runners, some of the world’s best runners have arrived to compete. Gilbert Okari of Kenya, the defending race champ and course-record holder (27 minutes, 35 seconds, set last year) will compete, but defending women’s champ Susan Chepkemei of Kenya has withdrawn from the race due to ongoing visa issues.

Perrenial race contender Catherine Nderba of Kenya is not competing in this year’s race, as she is training for the Chicago Marathon, later this year.

On the Maine men’s side, Hemphill of Freeport and Giddings of South Portland head up the deep field of Maine runners. Hemphill, 33, won the LL Bean 10K in his hometown on July 4th while Giddings is the New England high school champion in the 3,200-meter run (9:00).

They’ll be joined by Evan Graves and Judson Cake of Bar Harbor, Spaulding of Freeport, Mike Lansing of Freyburg and brothers Ayalew and Sintayheu Taye of Portland.

In this field, Hemphill and Giddings look to be the favorites, and the 33-year old Hemphill thinks it’ll be a tight race.

“I’m not quite as fit as I’ve been in years past,” he said. “I’m cautiously optimistic, truthfully I’ll end up running my own race and being conservative, I suspect that [Eric] might be a step or two faster than I.”

Like many other runners, Hemphill enjoys coming back to the race every year.

“It’s one of the best races I’ve ever done,” he said.

“It’s a great course, its challenging but not incredibly challenging. The quality of the field is tremendous, that’s always fun to run against the top runners in the world. And then for us, which is a race within a race, all the top Maine runners so that’s fun, ” Hemphill added, referring to the separate division set aside for Maine’s finest.

Okari, one of 30 elite runners competing in the race, is looking for his third consecutive title. He’ll face a stiff challenge from countryman John Korir, who is currently the top road racer in the world. He missed the 2004 race due to an injury.

Others expected to challenge are Wilson Kiprotich, 2002 champ James Koskei and Reuben Cheruiyot, all of Kenya, as well as Jon Brown of Great Britain, a 2004 Olympian.

Lane and Gaudette, ages 27 and 22, respectively, are both entered as elite athletes. Lane, who ran for Stanford University and Gaudette, who recently graduated from Brown University, are excited to be in a field with some of the world’s greatest runners.

“You have to separate yourself a little bit from them, so you don’t get caught up with what they’re trying to do,” he said. “You get out there and see what you can do early, gauge how things are going, how you’re feeling, and go from there.”

In the women’s race, the favorite is Holland’s Lornah Kipligat, who is ranked seventh in the world. She won the Peachtree 10K in Atlanta earlier this year with a speedy time of 31:17 – the Beach to Beacon course record is 31:34, held by Nderba.

Kenyans Sally Barsosio, Grace Momanyi and Margaret Okayo should also challenge along with Alevetina Ivanova and Tatiana Titova of Russia.

On the Maine women’s side, 37-year old Susannah Beck of Sedgwick, a Yarmouth native who moved back to Maine a couple years ago, is the heavy favorite.

Beck’s presence will create a huge obstacle for Maine’s finest female runners, including Suzanne Husse of Alfred, Marjorie Graff of South Portland and Kristin Barry of Scarborough.

Emily LeVan of Wiscasset could be a threat for the Maine title, also, but may not run because she is competing in the World Championships Marathon next weekend.

According to race director Dave McGillivray, 5,000 runners representing 20 countries and 48 states are entered. A total of 1,873 of those runners are competing for the first time.

The oldest runner in the field is 87 years of age while the youngest is 7. Race president David Weatherbie said that a bonus of $2,500 will be handed out to the race champion if he or she sets a course record.

The course is one of the more challenging in the state, with a flat, fast first five miles, following Rte. 77 near Crescent Beach for a mile-plus, then turning onto Old Ocean House Road before eventually joining 77 for a few hundred yards, then swinging onto Shore Road, where the ocean views are scenic.

After passing mile 5, runners endure the toughest uphill on the course. The race finishes inside Fort Williams, where runners will endure a sharp uphill upon entry into the Fort. Then it’s a nice, downhill finish with the Portland Head Light on the horizon.