Beach to Beacon is a time to celebrate Joan Benoit Samuelson
Joan Benoit Samuelson talks about this year’s TD Beach to Beacon 10K road race on Wednesday at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth. (Derek Davis/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image
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CAPE ELIZABETH — This is the week every summer in which we celebrate Joan.
Joan, of course, is Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the first women’s marathon Olympic gold medal in 1984, two-time winner of the Boston Marathon, and a Maine native. She’s one of those Mainers you can refer to just by her first name, and most Mainers will know who you’re referring to. Joan was Cooper before Cooper.
Joan is Maine’s own. Her gift to us, the TD Beach to Beacon 10K, is Maine’s own, too. Saturday is the 28th running of the Beach to Beacon 10K, the race she founded in 1998. It attracts some of the top runners in the world, but the heart of it is the thousands of recreational runners who hit the course every year on the first Saturday in August.
Wednesday afternoon, Samuelson reflected on the race at Fort Williams Park, not far from where runners will cross the finish line Saturday morning. Mist surrounded the Portland Head Light, and wind gusts made it feel like fall rather than midsummer. She expected the weather to be more conducive to running come Saturday.
More than 3,000 runners took part in the inaugural race in 1998. The event grew quickly and now routinely sells out shortly after registration opens. More than 6,500 runners finished the race last year.
“I didn’t know where it would go, what it would become,” Samuelson, 69, said about starting the race nearly 30 years ago. “I think when Covid happened, a lot of people turned to outdoor exercise. Walks became runs or jogs and then this was out there. I think people saw this as a goal to achieve, because it’s so supported by the community. … There’s new runners every year, and that’s important. They spread the word as well.”
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The Beach to Beacon is a year-round endeavor for Samuelson and the event’s board of directors, but this week, it gets crazy busy. The final board of directors meeting before the race was set for Wednesday night. Then comes a fun run on Thursday, as well as a race expo at Southern Maine Community College, where runners can pick up their bibs.
Joan paused? Wait, does the expo open Thursday, what day is today?
“See? This is what happens I lose track of the week,” she said.
With so much on her plate, that slip is easily forgivable.
“People will have their dinners Friday and get ready for Saturday morning,” she said. “We never find complacency. We’re always trying to rethink some of the things we do. (Race director) Dave McGillivray and his team do a wonderful job with the race organization.”
Long before the race, a children’s charity beneficiary is selected. This year it’s Dirigo Reads, a statewide volunteer organization that provides first graders across Maine a new book every month. Dirigo Reads will receive $30,000 from TD Bank, the Beach to Beacon’s primary sponsor.
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Samuelson’s athletic accomplishments are part of her legacy, and the Beach to Beacon certainly is, too. Add all the charities that have benefited from the Beach to Beacon over the years, and her legacy is unimpeachable. That said, she’s quick to share credit.
“It was my idea. It’s not me. It’s a whole team of people. It’s the whole community, and it’s the whole sport,” Samuelson said.
In June she attended the Class B high school track and field championships at Freeport High, held on the track that bears her name. She assisted in presenting medals to runners in the distance events. Seeing the young runners do their thing is inspiring, she said.
The Beach to Beacon 10K is nearly 30 years old. What was a fantastic idea 28 years ago is now a Maine institution. Joan reminds us, she’s 28 years older than when she started the event.
This is the week every summer in which we celebrate Joan. And this race she gave us is going to outlive us all.
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Tagged: beach to beacon, Sports Columns, travis lazarczyk
Travis Lazarczyk has covered sports for the Portland Press Herald since 2021. A Vermont native, he graduated from the University of Maine in 1995 with a BA in English. After a few years working as a sports. More by Travis Lazarczyk
