CAPE ELIZABETH (AP) — Stephen Kosgei Kibet of Kenya and Wude Ayalew of Ethiopia, two familiar faces who’ve been knocking on the door, finally broke through as champions on Saturday in the 18th TD Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race.

Kibet (28:28), one of the world’s all-time halfmarathoners, stretched away from a three-man pack inside Fort Williams in a tactical race to claim his first title in four tries, including runner up finishes in two of the past three years. Moses Kipsiro (28:40) of Uganda out-kicked Kenyan Daniel Salel (28:41) for second.

Ayalew (31:56), who ran the second fastest time ever on the TD Beach to Beacon course in 2010 only to place second, this time outdueled Diane Nukuri (32:00) for her first win, also in four tries. Sentayehu Ejigu (32:16) took third while defending champion Gemma Steel of Great Britain finished a distant fourth (32:57).

In the new American-only prize category, the top Americans were former Oregon standouts Eric Jenkins (28:50) and Alexi Pappas (32:57), who also finished fourth and fifth overall, respectively.

In the Maine resident races, Erica Jesseman, 26, of Scarborough (34:53), the 2013 champ, regained her title in dominant fashion, while 19- year-old Ben Decker of Yarmouth (32:49) won a wide open men’s race.

Also, a course record was set in the wheelchair division by James Senbeta (21:46), who shaved seven seconds off the previous mark to win his first TD Beach to Beacon title.

The world-class athletes were among a record-setting 6,602 runners from 15 countries, 41 states and more than 265 Maine cities and towns who finished the winding, rolling, often breathtaking 6.2- mile coastal course on a bright sunny morning that quickly grew hot and a little muggy. But, heat and humidity did not affect the enthusiasm of thousands of spectators who lined the course and filled bleachers to cheer the runners.

The addition of a $23,000 prize purse for American men and women meant the field this year included many top U.S. distance runners along with the expected world-class athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia and other African nations.

Kibet, 28, and fellow Kenyan Micah Kogo, 29, had the most experience on the course, having run three times before. Kogo, though, has won twice (2013 and 2011), while Kibet had to settle for a fourth in 2010, followed by a pair of runner-up finishes, in 2012 and again last year, when even his personal best 10K (27:43) wasn’t good enough.

A determined Kibet pulled into the front in the second mile and then remained at or near the head of the lead pack, which included Kogo, Kipsiro, Salel and Jenkins. The pack had thinned to Kibet, Kipsiro and Salel as they entered Fort Williams but by then Kibet had stretched his lead to insurmountable, leaving the excitement to Kipsiro’s sprint finish to nip Salel.

Jenkins, a two-time NCAA champ at Oregon who grew up in Portsmouth, N.H., was able to stick with the African runners for much of the race. He has been turning heads all summer while launching his professional career on the European track circuit, recently clocking a 13:07.33 at 5,000 meters.

Among Americans, Jenkins was followed by Aaron Braun, 28, of Alamosa, Colo. (29:28), four-time U.S. Olympian Abdi Abdirahman of Flagstaff, Ariz. (29:37), and two former Maine resident champions now running professionally — Brunswick High School graduate Will Geoghegan,( 29:48) and Riley Masters, 25, of Seattle (29:55).

On the women’s side, Ayalew, 28, appeared equally determined after failing to win in her previous three visits to Cape Elizabeth. She and Ejigu, 30, quickly moved to the lead with Nukuri, 30, the two-time Burundian Olympian, who like Ayalew has three previous Top 10 finishes on the TD Beach to Beacon course, including a personal-best 31:52 to finish third last year.