Gilbert Okari Wins Third Straight Men's Race; Lornah Kipligat Dominates Field to Claim Women's Crown at 2005 TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon

18-year-old Eric Giddings of South Portland Shatters Maine Record

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine – Gilbert Okari won in convincing fashion for his third straight title and Lornah Kipligat kept her unbeaten 2005 season intact in the eighth edition of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race on Saturday in Cape Elizabeth.

Okari and Kipligat are the two hottest road racers in the world right now, and they proved why on a gorgeous, sun-filled morning in Maine. Okari of Kenya and Kipligat of the Netherlands dominated their competitors along the winding, ocean-hugging, 6.2-mile course.


Okari (27:38) broke free after entering Fort Williams late in the race and cruised to his third win. He has won all the major U.S. road race over the past month. Fellow Kenyan Wilson Kiprotich (27:44), who finished fourth last year, stuck closer to Okari this year to finish second. Thomas Nyariki (28:05) of Kenya took third, while John Korir (28:20) of Kenya finished a distant fourth.

In the women’s race, Kipligat (31:34) tore out to a huge lead early on and never looked back to win her ninth major road race in a row. She narrowly missed the course record of 31:33. Alvetina Ivanova of Russia (31:56), who finished third last year, ran an identical time this year and moved up a place to second. Kenyans Grace Monyani (32:21) and Sally Barsosio (32:25), two of the world’s best, finished third and fourth.

In the Maine races, Stanford-bound Eric Giddings, 18, of South Portland (30:34) shattered the Maine record of 30:52 set in 1998, establishing himself as Maine’s best road racer while still a teenager. The surprise Maine winner of the 2003 TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon, Giddings proved that was no fluke. Dressed in his South Portland Red Riots singlet, he blew away the field just as he had so often during his stellar high school career.

His two top high school competitors, 17-year-old Ayalew Taye, (31:57) and 15-year-old Sintayehu Taye (32:15), both from Portland, were also in the hunt, finishing third and sixth. The two brothers will be attending a private school in Massachusetts this fall. The trio competed in a number of memorable races this spring. Evan Graves, 23, of Bar Harbor (31:29), shaved 20 seconds off his second place time from last year, but again finished as the runner up.

Emily Levan, 32, of Wiscasset (35:52) won the women’s race, well ahead of Susannah Beck, 37 of Sedgwick (37:41), who won in 2004. Levan, who finished second to Beck last year, is tuning up to compete in the marathon for the U.S. at the World Track & Field Championships in Helsinki next Sunday.

Saturday’s race along the coast in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, again featured the top elite runners in the world among a field of 5,000 runners from 20 countries and 42 states. Thousands of spectators lined the course to cheer on the runners.


“What can you say? We were blessed with fantastic weather and some amazing races,” said Joan Benoit Samuelson, the race founder and Maine’s most recognizable athlete. “These tremendous athletes, along with the contributions of all the volunteers, the town of Cape Elizabeth and the lead sponsor, TD Banknorth, makes this such an inspirational event year in and year out.”

The race beneficiary was the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Portland and Auburn/Lewiston, a non-profit youth development organization that provides programs, activities and a nurturing environment to thousands of children in Maine. TD Banknorth, through the TD Banknorth Charitable Foundation, provided a cash donation of $30,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs. Two Club members, Antonio Anderson and Rebecca McPhee, both students in South Portland schools, held the finish line tape.

Race officials awarded $60,000 in prize money, including $10,000 to both Okari and Kipligat plus $5,000 for the second place winner and cash prizes for the top 10 finishers. Winners in the other categories also received $1,000 top prizes. Northeast Delta Dental also provided course-record bonuses for the first time this year.

Perhaps the incentive of a course-record bonus prompted the elites to set a blistering early pace, including a 4:09 first mile. But the lead eventually dwindled to two. Okari and Kiprotich entered Fort Williams Park shoulder to shoulder, before Okari broke away to record a remarkable third straight sub 28:00 time, including a course record 27:28 from 2003. In the women’s elite race, Kipligat ran with the lead pack of men out of the gate, setting the grueling pace that she is known for. She hasn’t lost a race yet in 2005, and may not.

Other winners included: Masters Men – Mbarek Hussein, 40, of Albuquerque, N.M. (29:40); Masters Women – Ramilia Burangulova, 44, of Gainsville, Fla., (34:38); Wheelchair Division, Tony Nogueira, Glen Ridge, N.J., now a six-time champ (25:35) and Laurie Stephens of Wenham, Mass., a six-time champ (30:23).

A total of 4,306 runners finished the race. And an estimated 10,000 spectators lined the picturesque course and gathered at the finish. A 1K Kids Fun Run for kids 12 and under also saw more than 400 entrants.

Also, in the Harvard Pilgrim HealthCare Corporate Challenge, pitting teams of athletes from a number of New England corporations and businesses, UnumProvident won first place in the mixed team division and LL Bean won both the men’s division and the women’s division.

Founded by Maine’s largest community bank, TD Banknorth, and Maine’s most famous athlete, Joan Benoit Samuelson, the race benefits a different charity each year as part of the TD Banknorth Shining the Light for Maine Youth program. The race director is Dave McGillivray, who has organized every TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon. He also serves as the race director of the BAA Boston Marathon.

The race course winds through the idyllic coastal town of Cape Elizabeth, starting near Crescent Beach State Park on Route 77 and ending at the Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in the world.

“We are just elated to see this kind of a field of top athletes, but also to see people from Maine and all over New England, the U.S., and the world come to Maine for this race,” said Michael McNamara, president of TD Banknorth, Maine.

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