Year-by-Year Recap
1998
Inaugural year for the race, founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson and called the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K after the title sponsor. The race had a field size of 3,000 and drew 2,408 finishers.
1999
Field size increases to 4,000 and the race becomes the first road race in Maine history to top 3,000 finishers as 3,248 crossed the line. Khalid Khannouchi of Morocco sets a course-record 27 minutes, 48 seconds, the first recorded sub-28- minute 10K ever run in Maine.
2000
Two-time defending champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya edged U.S. Olympian Libbie Hickman in a finish that required a ruling by a team of judges, including referee Steve Vaitones, a certified USA Track & Field official. Both runners, with identical official times of 32:19, thought they had won, but Vaitones and the other judges determined Ndereba crossed the finish first. Adding drama to the race was the fact that Ndereba fell at about the 1.5-mile mark, got stepped on and scraped her knee and shoulder, but still managed to get back up and grit out a victory.
2001
Honorary guest for the 2001 Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race was Sir Roger Bannister, the legendary British runner who on May 6, 1954, ran the world’s first recorded sub-four-minute mile. The then-25-year-old native of Harrow on the Hill, England, completed the distance in 3:59.4 at Oxford. Race Director Dave McGillivray was named the world’s outstanding race director for 2000 for his direction of the third Peoples Beach to Beach 10K Road Race by Road Race Management, Inc. and Lynx System Developers, Inc., based in Woburn, Mass., began providing a FinishLynx, a versatile digital photofinish and timing system.
2002
Field expands to 5,000 to accommodate more runners and commemorate the 5th year of the race. The race also introduces the Corporate Challenge where teams of at least four employees from New England corporations and businesses compete using net times and adjusted by age and gender under the WAVA (World Association of Veteran Athletes) system. Joan Benoit Samuelson runs with a group of New York City firefighters to commemorate the 5th year.
2003
Gov. John Baldacci was the first sitting Maine governor to run in the race, still called the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race. Baldacci ran as part of the Seeds of Peace team. Also, 16-Year-Old Eric Giddings of South Portland is the Maine winner and Gilbert Okari of Kenya (27:28) shattered the four-year-old course record by 20 seconds.
2004
The race again boasted the year’s fastest time in a 10K road race in the world when Kenya’s Gilbert Okari broke the tape at 27:35. In all, four men record crossed in under 28, almost unheard of on the international road race circuit.
2005
Name changes to TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon. Among runners from Maine, Stanford-bound Eric Giddings of South Portland set a new Maine record with a time of 30:34 while still a teenager at 18 and dressed in his South Portland High School Red Riots singlet.
2006
Race fills in just 46 days – eclipsing the 2005 record by almost two weeks – despite an expansion of the field by 500 slots to a total of 5,500. Russia’s Alevtina Ivanova broke the women’s record, running away from the field with a time of 31:26 to claim her first Beach to Beacon title after finishing second and third that last two years and breaking Kenyan Catherine Ndereba’s five-year-old record of 31:33.
2007
Special 10th edition of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon again fills in record time. This race featured Joan Benoit Samuelson running a leisurely 42:00 pace alongside friend Jacqueline Gareau, the 1980 Boston Marathon champ. Each runner in the field of 5,500 who completed the race received a commemorative medal. More than 110 runners ran for the 10th time, including Larry Wold, President of TD Bank in Maine. Kenya’s Duncan Kibet out kicked a fast field to win the men’s crown as the popular Meb Keflezighi, the U.S.’s top distance runner, finished fourth. Luminita Talpos of Romania dominated the women’s race, winning for the first time in five tries.
2008
Ed Muge sprinted to the finish to earn the men’s crown and ageless Edith Masai cruised to victory in the women’s race in the 11th edition of the race. Muge of Kenya (27:52.4) edged Ethiopia’s Maregu Zewdie (27:53), the world’s top-ranked road racer, down the homestretch in thrilling fashion. But the day belonged to the 41-year-old Masai, who dominated her younger competitors in 31:55.6, which also shattered the course record in the Master’s category for women. The two Kenyans were among the record-setting 5,258 runners from 14 countries and 41 U.S. states who finished the race on a cool, humid and foggy morning. In the Maine races, Kristin Barry, 34, of Scarborough (34:37) shattered the longest standing course record, set by Julia Kirtland of South Harpswell with a 34:56 in 1998, the race’s inaugural year. And in winning the Maine race, Ben True, 22, of North Yarmouth (31:02), also was the first American finisher in the race, finishing 11th overall.
2009
Ed Muge of Kenya (28:05) repeated as the men’s champ and Kenya’s Irene Limika (32:06) cruised in for the women’s title, but a pair of Mainers stole the show for the 12th running of the TD Bank Beach to Beacon. Ben True of North Yarmouth (29:10) and Sheri Piers of Falmouth (34:17) shattered course records to easily win the Maine titles and each finished 10th overall – a first for Maine runners in the international road race. Both course records are likely to stand for some time. A record-setting 5,624 runners, from 16 countries and 43 U.S. states, finished the race on a warm and sunny morning. The summer of 2009 marked the 25th anniversary of race founder Joan Benoit Samuelson’s historic gold medal performance in the first Olympic women’s marathon. At the Beach to Beacon, the ever-modest Samuelson was a fixture at the finish line cheering and greeting recreational runners.
2010
Kenyan Lineth Chepkurui (30:59) shattered the women’s course record and Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia sprinted to the men’s title in the 13th edition of the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race. In the Maine Resident races, Kristin Barry (34:34.9) of Scarborough reclaimed the women’s title, edging defending champ and course record holder Sheri Piers (34:35.2) of Falmouth by the slimmest of margins, while Patrick Tarpy (29:28) of Yarmouth cruised to his first men’s title. The winners were among the record-setting 5,672 runners from 17 countries and 41 U.S. states who competed on a cool, calm, idyllic morning on the Maine coast. Thousands of spectators lined the course to cheer the runners. Also, legendary marathoner and two-time Olympic silver medalist Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, a five-time TD Bank Beach to Beacon champ and former course record holder, was returning from injury and placed sixth (33:34).
2011
Kenyan Micah Kogo (27:48) used his Olympic track speed to wear down a talented men’s field and Aheza Kiros (32:09) of Ethiopia cruised to victory on the women’s side in the 14th edition of the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race. In the Maine Resident races, Sheri Piers of Falmouth pushed through the heat and humidity to reclaim the women’s title, while Louie Luchini of Ellsworth, a decorated collegian turned State Representative, put a stamp on his legacy in the men’s race. The winners were among the record-setting 5,876 runners from 12 countries, 43 states and more than 200 Maine cities and towns who crossed the finish line on a sunny, warm and humid morning on the Maine coast.
2012
A record-setting 6,117 runners from 17 countries finished the special 15th edition of the TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race. In honor of the 15th running, race founder and Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson completed the race alongside fellow marathon legends Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter, who won Olympic gold in 1972. At the front of the pack, Kenyans Stanley Biwott (27:59) and Margaret Wangari-Muriuki (31:51.6) prevailed in hot, humid conditions to win the men’s and women’s titles. In the Maine Resident races, 41-year-old Sheri Piers of Falmouth dominated the field to repeat as champion while Ethan Shaw of Falmouth, a recent Dartmouth graduate, broke through against a strong field to win his first men’s title.
2013
The Sweet 16 edition of the TD Beach to Beacon included another record-setting field of 6,244 runners and was highlighted by a pair of record-setting performances. In the Wheelchair Division, Krige Schabort, a 49-year-old Paralympic athlete from South Africa now living in the U.S., shattered the course record with a 21:53, marking the first sub-23:00 in race history. Also, in the Masters category, Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor (32:28), the American record holder in the marathon and half marathon, recorded the fastest 10K ever by an American woman in her Master’s age group. She also finished 7th in the deep Open Women category – for the first time each woman in the Top 10 ran a sub-33:00. Kenyans Micah Kogo (28:03) and Joyce Chepkirui (31:23) took the elite titles in near-perfect running conditions. In the Maine races, Erica Jesseman of Scarborough (34:17.6) came within .6 of breaking the course record in winning her first title after three consecutive top-three finishes, while Riley Masters of Veazie (30:19), a former All-American runner at the University of Maine and Oklahoma now running professionally, used his track speed to best a talented field.
2014
Great Britain’s Gemma Steel and Bedan Karoki of Kenya won the 17th TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race. Karoki (27:36), a Kenyan Olympian, outlasted fellow Kenyan Stephen Kosgei Kibet (27:42) and Maine native Ben True (27:50) for a hard-fought victory that saw the exhausted lead runners collapse to the ground after the finish. Karoki’s time marked the fastest 10K in the world at that point. Steel avenged last year’s runner-up placing by reaching the finish tape a mere three tenths of a second – .31 – in front of Shalane Flanagan after a classic road race duel down the homestretch. Both runners received identical times of 31:27. Ben True’s third-place finish was the highest ever for an American man in race history. In addition, his time was the fastest road 10K by an American since Mark Nenow ran 27:48 in 1985 and the third fastest ever, according to Runner’s World. Meb Keflezighi, who had an historic Boston Marathon victory earlier in the year – the first by an American since 1983 – finished 13th (29:58) and then re-assumed his role as ambassador to his sport by joining Race Founder Joan Benoit Samuelson in greeting runners crossing the finish line. In the Maine resident races, recent Midwest transplant Michelle (Frey) Lilienthal, a 32-year-old professional runner now living in Portland (33:39), shattered the course record by 38 seconds and finished 13th overall, while Will Geoghegan, 22, of Brunswick (29:53), a Dartmouth All-American, moved up a notch from last year to claim his first Maine title.
2015
The 18th TD Beach to Beacon saw the debut of a new American-only prize category, won by former Oregon standouts Eric Jenkins and Alexi Pappas, who also finished fourth and fifth overall. In the Open category, Stephen Kosgei Kibet of Kenya and Wude Ayalew of Ethiopia, two familiar TD Beach to Beacon faces, finally broke through as champions. Kibet (28:28), one of the world’s all-time half marathoners, stretched away from a three-man pack inside Fort Williams in a tactical race to claim his first title in five tries, including runner up finishes in two of the past three years. Moses Kipsiro of Uganda outkicked Kenyan Daniel Salel for second. Ayalew (31:56), who ran the second fastest time ever on the TD Beach to Beacon course in 2010 only to place second, this time outdueled Diane Nukuri for her first win in four attempts. Sentayehu Ejigu took third while defending champion Gemma Steel of Great Britain finished a distant fourth. In the Maine resident races, Erica Jesseman, 26, of Scarborough (34:53), the 2013 champ, regained her title in dominant fashion while 19-year-old Ben Decker of Yarmouth (32:49) won a wide open men’s race. Also, a new course record was set in the wheelchair division by James Senbeta (21:46), who shaved seven seconds off the previous mark to win his first TD Beach to Beacon title. A record-setting 6,602 runners from 15 countries, 41 states and more than 265 Maine cities and towns finished the coastal course on a morning that started cool but quickly got hot and muggy.
2016
Maine native Ben True became the first American ever to win the TD Beach to Beacon 10K in 2016 – making history in his native state of Maine. True ran the course in 28:16, ending an 18-year streak of East African winners. Mary Keitany of Kenya (30:45) christened the new Elite Women’s Start with a dominating, record-setting performance, braving increasingly humid conditions to shave 14 seconds off the old course record, set in 2010. The second year of the American-only prize category saw True doubling up with Emily Sisson (32:21), who placed fourth overall, on the women’s side. In the Maine resident races, Michelle Lilienthal (34:53), the 2014 champ, regained her title with a dominant performance while 22-year-old Jesse Orach, (31:31) of Gorham, a University of Maine distance runner, won the wide open men’s race after nabbing bib number #5891 just under the transfer deadline. The world-class athletes and Maine elites were among 6,332 runners from 15 countries, 43 states and more than 265 Maine cities and towns who finished the race, and the beneficiary in 2016 was My Place Teen Center (MPTC), a free, year-round, after-school youth development program for kids in Greater Portland.
2017
The 20th running of the TD Beach to Beacon in 2017 brought plenty of excitement, with Kenyan Mary Keitany (30:41) lowering her own course record by four seconds to dominate a strong women’s field. Fellow Kenyan Stephen Kosgei Kibet (27:54) held off Maine native and defending champion Ben True (27:55) to claim the men’s title in a dramatic sprint finish. True was fast enough to nab first place in the Americans-only prize category, with decorated U.S. distance runner Shalane Flanagan (31:15) taking the women’s American-only category and placing fourth overall, setting a new American course record. Race Founder and Olympic Gold Medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, who joined the field for only the fourth time, recorded a 39:19 to set a new best American 10K time for a woman age 60 or over. Her performance came on the 33rd anniversary of her gold medal performance in Los Angeles at the first Olympic marathon for women. In the Maine Resident races, Jesse Orach (31:30.4) of Gorham, who was on his way to a repeat win, collapsed about 100 yards from the finish, got back on his feet and crossed the finish line with the aid of Rob Gomez (31:31.2) of Windham, who had been running behind him and gave up his opportunity to win a Maine title to instead help Orach cross in first. In the women’s race, Emily Durgin (34:43) of Standish unseated defending champ Michelle Lilienthal of Portland, who placed second (35:11). The world-class athletes and Maine elites were among a record 6,885 runners from 18 countries, 43 states and more than 270 Maine cities and towns who finished the race. The 2017 race beneficiary was Let’s Go!, a nationally recognized childhood obesity prevention program of Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital at Maine Medical Center that promotes physical activity and healthy eating.
2018
New Zealander Jake Robertson (27:37) was the wire-to-wire men’s winner of the 21st TD Beach to Beacon, posting the widest-ever margin of victory, 50 seconds, in the race’s history. While the women’s race was closer, Kenyan Sandrafelis Chebet Tuei (31:21) was able to hold her lead entering Fort Williams to claim the women’s crown. Maine native and local favorite Ben True (28:29) won his third consecutive Americans-only title, with two-time Olympian Molly Huddle (31:40) claiming the women’s Americans-only title and third overall. In the Maine Resident races, Michelle Lilienthal (36:16) of Portland won for the third time and Ryan Smith (30:50) of Farmington won his first title, both in convincing fashion. Also, in the Wheelchair Division, Katrina Gerhard, 21, of Ashburnham, Mass., recorded a 26:49 to set a course record, shaving more than a minute off a mark that had stood since 1999.The world-class athletes and Maine elites were among 6,526 runners from 19 countries, 43 states and more than 270 Maine cities and towns who finished the race. WinterKids, a nonprofit that provides children and families opportunities to get outside and get active through school programs, winter sports and community events, was the 2018 race beneficiary.
2019
A pair of Kenyans won the 2019 TD Beach to Beacon, with Alex Korio (27:34) and Joyciline Jepkosegi (31:05) topping an elite field of more than 30 athletes that included several 2020 Olympic hopefuls. Korio’s 56-second margin of victory bested the previous 50-second record set just a year earlier. In the Americans-only category, Emily Infield (32:39) of Portland, Oregon, who recently recovered from hip surgery and had not run a 10K since 2017, took the women’s title, while Olympic favorite Scott Fauble (28:58) was the top American men’s finisher. The Maine Resident men’s and women’s division featured new champions this year. Among the men, Dan Curts (29:26) of Ellsworth finished first, with Maine’s top high school runner, Falmouth teen Sofie Matson (36:01) taking the women’s title. Also in 2019, the TD Beach to Beacon 10K achieved the prestigious, internationally recognized Evergreen Certification from the Council for Responsible Sport for the second time in recognition of its deep commitment to sustainable practices. The world-class athletes and Maine elites were among 6,417 runners from nine countries, 42 states and nearly 260 Maine cities and towns who finished the race. The 2019 race beneficiary was The Telling Room, a nonprofit that believes the power of creative expression can change communities and prepare youth for future success by building confidence, strengthening literacy skills, and providing real audiences for their students.