Beach to Beacon a scenic staple 10th annual race blends recreational runners, world-class field

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CAPE ELIZABETH – While speaking with the media at Portland Head Light in Fort Williams Park on a bright, sunny Tuesday morning, Joan Benoit Samuelson gazed out toward the Atlantic Ocean with a wide smile.

“You can’t find a more beautiful scene anywhere in the world than right here,” said the native of this picturesque oceanside town and founder of its signature summer event, the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K road race.

“It’s a very appealing place for people to come [to],” added Samuelson.

The 10th annual jaunt from Crescent Beach State Park to this attractive point on the ocean is Saturday at 8 a.m.

When she created the race a decade ago, Samuelson aimed to bring a world-class event to her hometown while giving recreational runners an opportunity to compete in the same event as the best in the world.

“I guess my vision was to make it a world-class event but also a Maine-class event, and to showcase the Maine runners as well as the international runners,” Samuelson said. “We want it to be a great experience for all of the runners, regardless of their ability.”

The only problem, which Samuelson says is a great one to have, is that the field, which is closed when it reaches 5,500, always fills quickly.

This year was no exception.

“I think it was nine days. I thought we would close before the Boston Marathon,” Samuelson said. “I think, fortunately, Maine runners are familiar enough with the event now that they know to sign up early enough.”

While plenty of recreational runners will vie for personal records and bragging rights among friends and families, some of the best in the world will be gunning for thousands of dollars in prize money.

The favorites are Kenyans Tom Nyarki, last year’s champ, and Duncan Kibet, as well as American Meb Keflezighi of San Diego.

An American has never won the Beach to Beacon, and Samuelson wouldn’t mind seeing Keflezighi become the first U.S. runner to break the tape at Fort Williams.

“Meb has a great shot at winning. It’s going to be set up as a wonderful race,” Samuelson said. “To have Meb win as an American in the 10th year, under the American flag at the awards ceremony would be a really nice story.”

In addition to bringing out some of the world’s best runners, the event is a showcase for the best in Maine, competing for their own title.

This year will be no different, with the likes of defending champ Donny Drake, two-time champ Eric Giddings, Evan Graves, Ethan Hemphill, Emily LeVan, who has won the last two women’s crowns, and Kristin Pierce-Barry all in the running this year.

“I can’t wait to see the results and hear the stories,” Samuelson said. “I remember Donny’s win last year, and people were just, ‘who the heck was that guy.'”

That story was similar to one involving Giddings, who stunned the field in 2003 at age 16 by beating veteran Andy Spaulding for the title.

He repeated the feat two years later.

Yarmouth native Pat Tarpy, the first Maine native to break the four-minute mile barrier on Pine Tree State soil earlier this summer, will also be competing but won’t be in the running for the Maine title as he resides in Providence, R.I.

“It’s amazing how many runners this state has produced, and the fact they appreciate what this race means to them, I think that’s a really big feather in their caps to say they won the Maine division of the Beach to Beacon,” Samuelson said.

Samuelson herself didn’t run the race she founded until 2002, when she ran alongside New York City firefighter John Gleason in honor of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. She was amazed to see how the race had grown in those five short years.

“I guess as a spectator, and being on the other side of the event, I didn’t realize the race had evolved in five short years to what was displayed on that day,” Samuelson said.

She plans on running it this year and acknowledged the elite women’s race could be a battle to the finish.

“I’m guessing, and I’m not going to be able to see it because I’m going to be somewhere in the middle of the pack, the pack of women up until the finish will be very darn tight,” Samuelson said.

Who knows, maybe she will see it after all.

“I hope somebody has a camera,” Samuelson said with a smile.

With the number of people that descend on this small community every summer – more than 5,000 runners and thousands of spectators, it takes the best in the business to make sure the event clicks.

“[Race director] Dave [McGillivray]’s the best. He really is the best,” Samuelson said of the world-renowned race director who also heads up the Boston Marathon every spring.

“[It’s] also our selfless, dedicated volunteers [who] really come out every year to help make this event shine,” Samuelson added.

One thing that the race has added to celebrate its 10th anniversary is awarding finisher’s medals to everyone who completes the course.

“I’m delighted we’re being able to do this for the runners,” Samuelson said. “It will be something, especially for our first-time runners who have never had a finisher’s medal, an accomplishment only 100 or so people share when you think of the thousands of runners who cross the finish line.”

Before finishing an interview and taking a short break before moving on to the next one, Samuelson took another gaze at the magnificent Atlantic, then toward the finish area, and offered another smile.

“It’s a special spot, that’s for darn sure,” she said. “The Fort Williams commission does an amazing job, as does the town of Cape Elizabeth, to keep this so accessible for so many people.”

It will be even more special Saturday, when thousands of runners, including the founder of this event and one of the greatest runners of all time, cross the finish line and gaze at that same ocean with a sense of accomplishment.