Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K road race, with the attendant expectation of celebration for such a milestone event. But gee whiz, how could you possibly top Number Nine?

On what might have been the most glorious Saturday of summer – early-morning fog burned off by cloudless sunshine and nary a hint of humidity – the ninth Beach to Beacon offered up these morsels, along with distributing nearly $60,000 in prize money:

A course record of 31 minutes, 25.7 seconds by Alevtina Ivanova of Russia to neatly complete her three-year placement countdown of three … two … one. Her paycheck: $10,000 plus a $2,500 bonus for lowering the mark set by Catherine Ndereba.

The culmination of a determined comeback from a horrific injury – the loss of sight in one eye sustained during an aborted carjacking – by 34-year-old Kenyan Tom Nyariki, who admitted he did not expect to beat three-time champion Gilbert Okari, then wound up running alone through Fort Williams Park and won in 27:45.5.

Yet another surprise winner in the Maine men’s division, with Deering High graduate and University of Maine senior Donny Drake and his four-digit bib number (2659) rising above the cream of the local crop.

Emily LeVan of Wiscasset surging to an early lead and never looking back on her way to a second straight victory among Maine women, the only favorite to fulfill expectations.

Patrick Doak of Concord, Mass., in his Beach to Beacon debut, setting a wheelchair record of 23:58 to beat six-time champion Tony Nogueira of New Jersey even though Nogueira’s time of 24:11 also bettered the old course record.

A record field of 4,813 athletes completed the 6.2-mile course, and that doesn’t include Paul Tormey of Orrington, an Army Reserve supply sergeant who embarked before dawn in Baghdad for a 10K trot around Al-Faw Palace and clocked a 49:30, which would have tied him for 1,303rd place.

– From the Aug. 6, 2006 edition of the Maine Sunday Telegram


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: