CAPE ELIZABETH (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Hollywood has its Walk of Fame. But you might say that Maine is home to the "run of fame" with so many big names taking part in the TD Beach to Beacon 10K road race.
The field of more than 6,500 competitors that gathers at the starting line in Cape Elizabeth on August 4 will be loaded with Olympians and national champions. Organizers released a list this week of the notable runners who are registered to race.
Local ties make Ben True a favorite with fans. The North Yarmouth native in 2016 became the first American man to win the Beach to Beacon. He duplicated that feat last March with his win in the NYC Half. True also holds the American 5K record with a time of 13:20.
Lopez Lomong brings another recognizable face to the Beach to Beacon. He carried the flag for Team USA at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and also competed four years later in the London Olympics.
On the women's side, Gwen Jorgenson will try to add a Beach to Beacon title to her collection of accolades that includes an Olympic gold medal. At the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, she was the first American woman ever to finish first in triathlon.
With a list of accomplishments that includes 25 national championships across various distances, Molly Huddle carries high expectations into her first running of the Beach to Beacon. She's an Olympic veteran having run for the United States in 2012 and 2016. Hailing from Providence, R.I., her New England pedigree may earn her extra cheers along the race route.
The high level of competition was engrained into the fabric of the race by its founder, Joan Benoit Samuelson. When the Olympics expanded the marathon to include women for the first time in 1984, she won the gold medal. Her training grounds were the winding and hilly roads in Cape Elizabeth which she developed into the course for the Beach to Beacon beginning in 1998.
