Once again, there were strong results at the top end of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10-K in Cape Elizabeth, Me., as the 11th edition concluded just a few hours ago.
On the men's side, three broke 28 minutes in a very close two-man finish where Kenya's Edward Muge narrowly bested Ethiopia's Terefe Maregu Zewdie, a repeat result of last weekend's Bix 7 in Davenport, Ia. Only six tenths of a second separated the two men; Muge's extended gun time was 27:52.4 and Zewdie's was 27:53.0. The third place finisher was Kenyan Kiplimo Kimutai who was clocked in 27:58.1. Defending champion, Duncan Kibet, finished fourth (28:21.0).
The first American across the line was Ben True from nearby North Yarmouth, Me. True, a Dartmouth College athlete, was 11th overall in 31:01.8.
The top USA women's finisher was Rebecca Donaghue in 32:59.6 (6th female overall).
The top masters finisher was, as a point of fact, a woman! Edith Masai, who won the women's race at the Bix 7 became the first over-40 woman to take the overall title at the Beach to Beacon, clocking 31:55.6. That handily surpassed Priscilla Welch's ARRS world masters record of 32:14 set at the Azalea Trail Run in Mobile, Ala., in 1985. However, the Beach to Beacon course has a 65% start to finish separation, although the elevation loss is less than the allowable 1m/km of race distance. If ARRS does not ratify this as a record, it is still a statistically significant result (Masai already holds the world masters record for 10,000m: 31:31.18).
Russian Liudmila Biktasheva was second overall in the women's race, clocking 32:03.2, while Japan's Yuri Kano finished third in 32:16.7. Kano was also third at last Sunday's NYC Half-Marathon presented by NIKE. The top American woman was Kristin Barry of nearby Scarborough, Me. She clocked 34:37.1 and was the 14th woman overall.
Race founder, Joan Benoit Samuelson, did not appear in the results. However, her daughter Abby, 20, ran 41:03, and husband Scott, 50, clocked 43:37.
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