Online Registration for Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race Now Available

Race Organizers Encouraging Runners to Register Online at www.beach2beacon.org

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine (March 15, 2001) - Online registration for runners entering this year's Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race August 4 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine is now available, one month earlier than last year. Race organizers are encouraging runners to register online at the race's new web site address, http://www.beach2beacon.org or through the bank's site at http://www.peoplesheritage.com. Printed entry forms also will be available at all Peoples Heritage branches throughout the state of Maine in mid-April.

The 2001 field size for the popular race will again be capped at 4,000, said race organizer Meg Dempsey, vice president and director of public affairs at Peoples Heritage Bank. The scenic course will be the same as last year, beginning at Crescent Beach along Route 77 and ending 6.2 miles later at the Portland Headlight lighthouse at Fort Williams Park. The event also features a wheelchair division of the race and a children's 1K race.

Organizers already are busy making arrangements for the race, which draws some 6,000 spectators and attracts elite runners worldwide as well as top runners locally and across New England. The 2000 race featured the closest women's finish race ever, with three-time Beach to Beacon champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya barely edging 2000 U.S. Olympian Libbie Hickman. This year, race organizers are considering adding a finish-line camera in anticipation of future "photo finishes."

Last year, more than 900 volunteers from Cape Elizabeth and surrounding communities pitched in to further cement the race's reputation as a premier tourist destination and favorite among locals as well. This year, organizers will again develop lists of host families and volunteers to help in a number of key areas, from course set up to running the water stops along the course.

Now in its fourth year, the race was founded by Peoples Heritage Bank and bank spokesperson Joan Benoit Samuelson, a Mainer and running legend whom in 1984 won the gold medal in the first Olympic marathon for women.

In addition to Peoples, other major race sponsors this year include Nike, Poland Spring, MBNA and WCSH TV-6, which will have live cut-ins of the race start and finish and air a half hour show on the night of the race.

The youth organization chosen by the bank this year to be the race beneficiary is the Kids First Center, a statewide program dedicated to supporting Maine parents and children who are going through the often-difficult transition of divorce or separation. The program includes support groups for children and workshops offering parents practical information and suggestions to help them focus on the needs of their children through the divorce process and afterwards as well. As this year=s race beneficiary, the Kids First Center will receive $30,000. Last year, the race beneficiary was Turning Point Farm. Camp Sunshine and Big Brothers/Big Sisters also were beneficiaries in previous years.

"We chose the Kids First Center because it provides such an overdue and valuable service to so many children in Maine," said Michael W. McNamara, president and CEO of Peoples Heritage Bank, a Maine-based bank with more than 60 branches throughout the state.

For additional information or entry forms for this summer's race, or to find out more about volunteer opportunities, persons may call the race hotline toll free at (888) 480-6940 or log on to the Peoples Heritage Bank website at http://www.peoplesheritage.com or the race's web address, http://www.beach2beacon.org.

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