Carlos Moran, who ran the 2019 TD Beach to Beacon 10K the day after he proposed to his wife at Portland Head Light, is from New Jersey. He won the Green Ticket award in his registration kit this year, receiving free lifetime entries to the event. Courtesy photo Angie Helton
Carol Titterton, a Cape Elizabeth resident, has won a lifetime of free entries into the TD Beach to Beacon 10K event. She said that she has been running in the race since 2009. Courtesy photo Angie Helton
CAPE ELIZABETH — The winners of the TD Beach to Beacon 10K Green Ticket prizes were announced last week. The Green Ticket entitles the winners, including a Cape Elizabeth resident, free lifetime entries into the event.
Participants who registered for the 2021 virtual race were eligible.
Carol Titterton, a Cape Elizabeth resident, said this is one of the few times she has won a lottery contest. She has been running in the race, which begins on Route 77 and ends at Fort Williams Park, with her daughter and friends since 2009.
“Every March, when we try to get on at 7 a.m. and get registered, it literally fills in minutes,” she said. “It’s unbelievable how fast spots go. It’s a huge relief to know I don’t have to do that every year anymore.”
The other winner of the Green Ticket was Carlos Moran, a New Jersey resident.
According to a TD Beach to Beacon news release, Moran had run the race in 2019 and said that the event is significant to himself and his wife.
“I was extremely surprised when I saw the Green Ticket in my race packet,” Moran said. “I ran the race in 2019 and remember how tough it was to get in on registration day because it’s such a popular event. This is a very special race for me because I proposed to my wife at Portland Head Light the day before I ran it in 2019. We can’t wait to get back up to Maine and participate in the TD Beach to Beacon 10K again.”
The winners also received a $100 TD Bank gift card and race merchandise, said the Beach to Beacon release.
Runners make their way down Route 77 in Cape Elizabeth at the beginning of the 2019 TD Beach to Beacon 10K road race. Brianna Soukup photo/Press Herald
Having lived in Cape Elizabeth since 2000, Titterton said she has watched participants run through each year in her neighborhood before she started participating.
“My family lives in Shore Acres, and it’s off of Old Ocean House Road, and my neighborhood is actually blocked by the race,” Titterton said. “We moved here in 2000 and since that time, there are always signs up that say the roads will be closed for a certain times.
“I’ve always gone down to watch the race, and I didn’t even start to run until 2007 and I just ran little 5K races. We were out having a birthday party, and a friend, a really good runner, suggested I do the Beach to Beacon. So that was the beginning, and my daughter and I have been doing it ever since.”
The TD Beach to Beacon 10K has become a summer tradition, she said.
“I’m a teacher so I have the summer months off of school, and I live in this beautiful town, so training for the race is a great way to be active outdoors, and it’s good for me,” Titterton said. “It’s just like a party out there, when you’re at the start, being around all those people. I love the positive energy, and this is the best, most well-done race I’ve ever been in. Since I do this race with my daughter and other friends, we do a big barbecue back at the house later in the day, so it’s just fun.”
She said that seeing community members come to cheer for runners is another positive aspect to the race.
“As you run, all the neighbors, all the businesses, they’re coming out to cheer,” Titterton said. “I just really enjoy all of the community being there all the way through the course.”
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