Staff Writer

They finished the race hand-in-hand, but the unofficial crown as the best woman runner in Maine belongs to Scarborough’s Kristen Barry instead of returning to Falmouth with Sheri McCarthy-Piers.

Barry’s time of 34 minutes, 34.9 seconds in the 13^th annual TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10k Road Race last Saturday was .3 seconds better than Piers and 10^th-best for women in the 6.2-mile race through Cape Elizabeth.

As they finished at Ft. Williams, Barry said she knew Piers was close behind.

“I yelled to her ‘c’mon,’” Barry said. “She said ‘I’m coming.’”

Barry was not alone in bringing laurels to Scarborough. Jeanne Hackett, 51, was first in the bracket for women older than 50 with a finishing time of 39:47.8.

Race organizers said more than 5,700 runners, walkers and wheelchair riders completed the 6.2-mile race that capped a week of events before the 13th annual event.

On a day of sea breezes and cloud cover, elite and local racers competed for prizes at what often seemed to be an extended family reunion of runners.

Ethiopian Gebre Gebremariam, ended Kenyan Ed Muge’s two-year reign as men’s champion with a time of 27:40.4 seconds, and Kenyan Lileth Chepkurui, shattered the women’s course record by more than 26 seconds with a time of 30:59.4.

The two led a field of elite runners in a race organizer Larry Barthlow praised for its depth. Race founder Joan Benoit Samuelson said “a spectacular field of Maine runners had gathered for bragging rights.”

Yarmouth resident Patrick Tarpy ran the course in 29:27.6 to finish first among Maine men, and led an in-state field of more than 5,200 racers. The field was comprised of racers from 41 states and 17 countries, said Samuelson, a Cape Elizabeth native and winner of a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics women’s marathon.

One runner who particularly delighted and surprised by her finish was Christine Snow-Reaser, the 44-year-old Dayton resident who was Maine women’s champion in 2001 and 2002.

Reaser learned about 30 minutes after crossing the finish line that her time of 39:18.2 had won the women’s master class for runners between ages 40 and 49.

She said had been running poorly this summer but was feeling stronger over the last couple weeks.

“I just decided to go strong and hard,” she said of her race strategy.

The scene at the runners expo last week at Cape Elizabeth High School was similar to the mass of runners at the finish line as race registrants arrived to get bib numbers and walk through displays of shoes, running gear and apparel and visit booths set up by local nonprofit agencies.

The two-day expo is part of the growing race experience, which began with 3,000 racers in 1998. Samuelson credited race organizer Marie Adams for the expo’s success.

Cumberland resident Michelle Cook arrived to get her bib and a free T-shirt with her son, Maddox, tucked into his stroller. Last year he ran with her – Cook said she gave birth to him two weeks after the race.

Cook, who was on her eighth or ninth race, said she ran throughout her pregnancy last year and was not going to miss the Beach to Beacon.

“It is a well-organized race with a beautiful course,” Cook said.

The allure of the race drew Scarborough residents Steve and Karen Rand – for his eighth and her first run. She said she ran her first 5k on Peaks Island last month and enjoyed it.

I finished and I didn’t have to walk,” she said.

Mandy Collins, who recently moved to Cape Elizabeth from Seattle with her family, she said a tip from friends got her a slot as one of 7,000 runners.

“They told me to be online by 8 a.m.,” she said. Dave Weatherbie, the race president, said the field was filled in 30 minutes during online registration March 15 because many people have realized they can run the course.

“The walls of intimidation have crumbled,” he said.

As they gathered Friday at Inn by the Sea, running legends greeted one other as old friends and talked about the allure of the race.

“I like the point-to-point nature, and it is like the Tour de France when you run up the path,” said Bill Rogers, a four-time winner of the Boston and New York marathons. “I run on emotion and I love the crowds.”

Andrew Lemoncello, a Scotland native, said running the race is an essential part of his developing professional career because of the quality of competition and the course.

“I have heard great things about it. You have to run it,” he said.

Muge, who said he trains in the mountains of Kenya, likes the course, the coast and the $10,000 first-place prize.

Muge was initially part of a breakaway pack of elite runners who bolted from the field. After a 4:30 pace in the first mile, leaders logged a 4:38 second mile, which may have helped preserve the course record of 27:27:7 set in 2003 by Kenyan Gilbert Okari.

First to finish the race was wheelchair competitor Craig Blanchette of Battle Ground, Wash., who rolled over the course for the first time and finished in 24:12.

Blanchette said he got a favorable first impression of the course.

“It is one of my favorites, kind of like a roller coaster,” he said.

Blanchette said he had little time to enjoy the view, however.

“When you are racing, the view is smooth pavement, and there was plenty of that,” he said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219