Positions also available in medical tent on race day

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine (June 4, 2015) – The TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race is looking for volunteers to help staff its award-winning grrening program at this year’s race on Saturday, Aug. 1 in Cape Elizabeth. New and returning volunteers can sign up at http://www.beach2beacon.org/volunteer.

Environmental-related positions include the shuttle and parking program as well as recycling as the TD Beach to Beacon 10K seeks to improve on its already-impressive 85 percent waste diversion rate from 2014.

“The TD Beach to Beacon race recently earned a gold certification for its greening program, and that’s partly because we have expanded our recycling program that includes composting, bike corrals, expanded parking areas and shuttle bus operations over the years,” said Volunteer Coordinator Maya Cohen of Cape Elizabeth. “So our volunteer needs in these areas continue to grow.”

Cohen said the Medical Tent on race day is another area where volunteers are needed. Both licensed and non-licensed medical professionals are welcome, she said, including doctors, nurses, EMTs, medical assistants and students in training.

“Our volunteers are the backbone of the race and the true endurance athletes of the weekend. We are most grateful for their participation year after year,” said race founder Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won gold at the first women’s Olympic Marathon in 1984.”They make the race what it is – a premier Maine sporting event – and we couldn’t put on a race of this magnitude without them.”

The official volunteer sponsor of the 2015 TD Beach to Beacon 10K is Spectrum Medical Group and OA Centers for Orthopaedics.

“We’re ahead of schedule this year with many of our volunteers from previous years signing up again, but we still have needs in these important key areas,” Cohen added.

In return for their efforts, volunteers receive a tech running shirt provided by Nike and are invited to an outdoor party with food, music and prizes during race week in a coastal Cape Elizabeth locale, organized exclusively for them.

The TD Beach to Beacon 10K needs about 800 volunteers to ensure a smooth operation for the 6,000+ recreational runners and world-class athletes alike who will wind their way from Route 77 near Crescent Beach State Park to Fort Williams Park and the Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in the world.

A list of available jobs is available on the TD Beach to Beacon 10K website and is updated daily. Groups interested in volunteering together should contact Maya Cohen at cohemm@gmail.com.

Helping out also brings many volunteers close to the action and excitement, such as providing water to the elite runners, helping runners get on shuttle buses at the three satellite lots or working on the Kid’s Fun Run the night before the race.

The race also honors a longtime volunteer with a special annual award. The 2014 Volunteer of the Year award went to­ – Christine Newell, a long-time volunteer who teaches at Cape Elizabeth High School.

Minors (under age 18) cannot register online and need to download an application from the website. Please call (207) 838-8816 or email cohemm@gmail.com with questions.

This year marks the 18th running of the TD Beach to Beacon 10K, which filled online in less than five minutes and is considered one of the gems on the U.S. road race circuit. In 2014, a record-setting 6,494 runners from 14 countries, 42 states and more than 260 Maine cities and town finished the winding, rolling, often breathtaking 6.2-mile coastal course. The race debuted in 1998 with 2,408 runners crossing the finish line.

TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, is the title sponsor of the race, founded in 1998. Separately, the TD Charitable Foundation will provide a $30,000 donation to the 2015 race beneficiary, Good Shepherd Food Bank , Maine’s largest hunger relief organization.

For additional information about the race, visit b2bdevelopment.wpengine.com, and find the TD Beach to Beacon on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.