Two years ago, at age 16, Eric Giddings came out of nowhere to finish first in the Maine division of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K, but this year the South Portland native came into the race as one of the favorites.
He did not disappoint.
On a stunningly beautiful Saturday, Giddings ran the Cape Elizabeth course in his Red Riots track outfit and smashed the state record for the race by 18 seconds, finishing in 30:34, nearly a minute ahead of Evan Graves of Bar Harbor.
Nearly 5,000 runners took to the roads of the scenic coastal town for the eighth edition of the popular race, and spectators turned out in bunches to support the athletes, who ranged from the world’s best to those determined only to finish. Race time temperatures were in the low 70s and the sky was bright blue, decorated with thin ribbons of clouds.
“It was beautiful out, really sunny, and people were cheering,” said Lewis Emery, a senior at the US Naval Academy. “A couple of them were nice enough to drag out hoses to get us wet.”
The Westbrook native may have been the only one of the competitors motivated by a desire to avoid the taunting of a family member.
“I went out trying to beat my brother,” said the 22-year-old Emery. “Losing would have been a source of humiliation. I didn’t want to deal with him making fun of me.”
While Kenyan Gilbert Okari (27:38) sped along at the head of the pack, successfully reaching his goal of a third straight win, Emery (36:33) topped his brother Alex (38:13) as well as his father and brothers Brent and Glenn.
“After the first mile he just started to pull away,” said Alex, who will be a senior this year at Westbrook High School.
Lornah Kipligat (31:34) of the Netherlands was the first woman to cross the finish line, while Wiscasset’s Emily Levan (35:52) was the top Maine female. New Jersey’s Tony Nogueira (25:35) and Laurie Stephens of Massachusetts (30:23) each won wheelchair division honors for a sixth time.
Giddings, who will soon leave Maine to begin a promising track career at Stanford, said that he was happy with the win, but that he was “just going for a good time.”
“The first half was perfect pace,” he said. “Eddie (Ernest-Jones, of the UK) was helping me out with the pace, and then he took off with two miles to go.”
Casco’s Miles Bartlett (32:43) started out the race keeping an eye on Giddings, but soon lost him.
“He got out good,” Bartlett said. “I was going to try to hang off him, but he really went for it.”
After that, the incoming senior at Lake Region High School had to revamp his goal of breaking 32 minutes.
“Once I started to die out at the two or three-mile mark, I set my sights on my time from last year,” he said. “I didn’t want to run slower.”
Bartlett said generally he felt pretty good about the race, but admitted he has been running more trails than roads lately. A sure sign that fall cross country season is nearing.
His mother, Johanna, staked out early a good viewing spot near the finish line Saturday.
“I’ll get nervous sometimes,” she says, but today she is relaxed.
“I’m just happy Miles gets to run with such great runners from the state, national and international level,” she said.
And about his self-motivation.
“He’s very driven in that regard,” she said. “He takes care of that himself. We don’t have to worry about that. He’s a great kid and we’re very proud.”
Not long after the top runners crossed the finish line at Fort Williams Park, the trickle of athletes became a steady flow of dozens and then hundreds of people, each pushed by their own motivations and chasing their own goals.
Though she finished among the top females in the state, Scarborough’s Kristin Barry (37:41), coming off a pelvic injury and battling a sinus infection, was still disappointed.
“I think it was my slowest 10K ever,” said Barry of her fourth Beach to Beacon. “I thought maybe I’d feel OK, but I didn’t.”
Saco’s Charles Massie (47:46) entered the race hoping to do what he’d done in the previous six races: finish among the top thousand runners. The 51-year-old succeeded with little room to spare, coming in 998th.
“It gets tougher and tougher every year,” Massie said, adding that Maine’s weather was a factor in his training. “You couldn’t run through the winter and then this past month, when you really want to get a push in, the heat was brutal.”
For Jeffrey Rosenblatt (46:01), 49, the race was a steppingstone to a more difficult event on his calendar this fall.
“I was running it as a training session because I’m getting ready for a triathlon,” said the Gorham cardiologist. “A 10K is one of the components, so it’s a good chance to get a feel for the pace.”
Rosenblatt has done a couple of triathlons in the past and is gearing up to compete in another in Camden this September.
Though there was no discernable odor coming from Julie Largay, a number of people ran wearing T-shirts that proclaimed “Julie Stinks” in reference to the 29-year-old from Raymond. Largay, an employee at Seligman Data Corp. in South Portland, convinced a dozen co-workers to enter the race, though some arm-twisting, it appears, may have been involved – hence the shirts.
“I’m the one who forced them to train,” said Largay. “We got together every Tuesday and did a couple of miles and started running the course a few weeks ago.”
Though she’s just 13 years old, Cape Elizabeth’s Emily Attwood (41:40) ran her fourth Beach to Beacon, finishing first in the female 15-and-under category.
“I thought I had a pretty good race today,” said Attwood. “I trained by myself, but I also trained with the high school girls cross country team to get in shape.”
Mark Pettingill (46:23) said that his pace at the beginning of the race turned out to be a little too quick.
“You just get caught up in the emotion; you get caught up with the other runners,” said the 40-year-old from Scarborough. “There were some fast runners in the group I started out with. I hung with them and went out a little too fast.”
Pettingill noted that he had probably played golf more than he’d run over the past 12 months, with the result being a time about a minute slower than last year’s.
“I couldn’t believe how many people were out here,” said Daniel Jackson (1:04:49). The Windham resident added that the crowds helped push him along the course. “When I entered the park I got a lot of energy.”
Though Scarborough’s Erica Jesseman (38:55), 16, picked up running from her dad, it’s routine now for the student to finish ahead of the teacher. Overall she was 187th.
“She started beating me when she was 14,” said her dad, Eric (41:36). “And she’s always beaten me in the Beach to Beacon. She has a better kick than I do.”
Dana Riker (42:00), who’s preparing to start her senior year at Cape Elizabeth High School, has tagged along behind the official entrants in the past, but decided to get a number this year. She enjoyed running along the streets of her hometown, seeing many familiar faces, as well as those visiting just for the event.
“I loved it,” Riker said. “It’s great to see how the population of our town increases by 10,000 on the day of the race.”
Chuck Anschutz contributed to this report
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