CAPE ELIZABETH — Don’t misunderstand him, Will Geoghegan was thrilled to be the fastest Maine resident in Saturday’s TD Beach to Beacon 10K.
The 22-year-old from Brunswick overcame a stress fracture in his foot to run a personal best of 29 minutes, 53 seconds.
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But he thinks the honor should come with an asterisk.
“Technically, Ben True is from (Maine). He doesn’t live here anymore, which is very lucky for me, obviously,” Geoghegan said.
True remains the standard for up-and-coming Maine distance runners like Geoghegan. Now living in New Hampshire, True, 28, finished third overall Saturday in 27:50.
Geoghegan has been following in his footsteps. They even went to the same college.
“In addition to being kind of ‘the guy’ in Maine, he was also ‘the guy’ at Dartmouth. So I’ve been looking up to him for a long time,” Geoghegan said.
Geoghegan was sidelined for much of the summer while letting the third metatarsal bone in his left foot heal. He returned to win the Yarmouth Clam Festival 5-miler on July 19, giving him confidence entering the Beach to Beacon.
Still, he said “it was a little nerve-wracking” to find himself in a pack with Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi that ran a 4:36 opening mile. That put him on pace to go under 29 minutes for the race, when his goal was to get his first sub-30.
“Every mile was getting a little slower than the one before it and we were creeping closer and closer to that 30-minute pace,” said Geoghegan, who finished 11th overall. “Turning the last corner, I saw 29:30 on the clock and I was pretty sure I had it.”
One pack of runners behind Geoghegan, Jonny Wilson of Falmouth had to make a quick decision. Should he push himself to try to duplicate that faster pace, or give up on being the top Mainer and try for his personal-best time?
He chose the latter, and was happy he did. Wilson, 26, finished in 30:27 as the second-place in-state runner. But it was his best 10K finish, and he said it puts him on track for his larger goals, which are to stretch out to marathon distance and hopefully qualify for the Olympic marathon trials. He finished third here last year and second the year before that. His previous best time was 30:42.
“I had a tough time in the hills. I was definitely right on the edge, running faster than I ever have, so I was happy to finish strong,” Wilson said. “If I’d gone out with Will, I think I would’ve faded a lot more.
“I’m trying to keep making little gains each year and eventually get down to a 30, and if I do that then I know I’m in good shape for a half marathon and eventually a marathon.”
Henry Sterling, 23, of South Freeport, a former teammate of Geoghegan’s at Dartmouth, was the third Maine finisher in 31:40.
Geoghegan has graduated from Dartmouth but has one year of eligibility remaining in both indoor and outdoor track. He’s heading to Oregon to compete, but won’t race again until the winter.
“I really ran today just because this was my favorite race and it’s a ton of fun being here,” Geoghegan said. “It wasn’t so much to be in top competitive form, but I couldn’t be happier with this race.”
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