Anybody runner who lives in or near Maine, or will be vacationing here in August, should look towards running the Beach to Beacon 10k. It is a very fun race with a rolling course that nets a drop of about 25 feet from start to finish. You get to run through Cape Elizabeth, and get some great ocean views along the course. The post race festivities are excellent every year, with live bands, scenic views and plenty of food. The race usually sells out within 3 weeks or so of when registration opens, so I recommend registering sooner rather than later if you plan on running.
If you run a 10k faster than 33 minutes this year, then you qualify for an elite start racing number which will place you at the front of the pack. The only 10k I currently have on my calendar before the Beach to Beacon is 2 weeks after the Boston Marathon, so I do not imagine that I am going to manage to run that sort of time before hand. My goal is to be near there for the race itself in August, though.
I preferred when the race was the People’s Beach to Beacon, but it is now officially the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon. They do have a much nicer looking website this year, though, so not all change is bad. The race fees for the 10k are $30 per person ($5 for the kid’s run afterwards) with a $3.50 processing charge if you pay online.
I gave up on waiting to hear from them and registered online. I would hurry, as there seems to be somewhere between 3500 and 4500 people already registered. My receipt was transaction #3660, and a cut and paste line count got me 4551 people on the entrants page. Don’t wait to register until it is too late, or you will miss out on a great race this summer!