7/31/08
By David Monti
(c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission
Beach to Beacon 10K
One
of American's most scenic road races, the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon
10-K, is also one of its most competitive. The 11th edition of this
coastal run in Cape Elizabeth, Me., is scheduled for Saturday and
features a very strong, mostly African, elite field.
Kenyan
Duncan Kibet, who was the first of 4839 finishers in last year's race
in a swift 27:51.7 personal best, returns to defend his title,
organizers reported earlier this week. Once again, it will be his goal
to snatch the $10,000 first prize, part of a total $60,000 prize money
purse.
His biggest rivals will mostly be from his own nation,
including Quad-City Times Bix 7 champion Edward Muge, 2006 Beach to
Beacon champion Thomas Nyariki, and three time "B2B" winner Gilbert
Okari. The Kenyans will have two very strong Ethiopians to contend
with (no Ethiopian man has ever won the B2B), led by 2008 AJC Peachtree
Road Race champion Terefe Maregu Zewdie, and 2004 Olympian Dejene
Berhanu.
"The men's field is really stacked at the top with at
least five men, plus a couple of dark horses, who have a legitimate
shot at winning," said Larry Barthlow, who organizes the professional
fields for the event. In a prepared statement he added: "I can't wait
to see the race for the finish."
Forty-one year-old Edith Masai,
who became the first masters runner to ever win the Bix 7 last weekend,
is the headliner on the women's side. The 2003 IAAF World
Championships 5000m bronze medalist will have to fend off two
compatriots who are literally half her age: Lineth Chepkurui, 20, and
Millicent Gathoni, 22. Chepkurui won the Credit Union Cherry Blossom
10-Mile last April, while Gathoni won the Dick's Sporting Goods
BolderBOULDER 10-K last May.
Hoping to get past "Team Kenya"
will be Japan's Yuri Kano, third at last Sunday's NYC Half-Marathon
presented by NIKE; Romania's Adriana Pirtea, who was second at last
year's Bank of America Chicago Marathon; Colorado's Elva Dryer, a
two-time Olympian; and Scotland's Kathy Butler, 12th at the 2004
Olympic Games 10,000m.
Regardless of their pace, every runner
will be treated to beautiful views of Casco Bay as the course hugs the
rugged Maine coast on its way to the finish in Fort Williams near the
classic Maine lighthouse, Portland Head Light. Race founder, Joan
Benoit Samuelson, grew up in Cape Elizabeth and will attend --and
probably run-- the race. The 51 year-old Samuelson ran 42 minutes-flat
last year.
ENDS
