Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race Schedule Announced

Local Youth Organization Chosen

PORTLAND, Maine ÷ The Executive Committee of the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race has announced that next year's race will be held August 5, 2000, again in Cape Elizabeth along the picturesque shores of Maine's rocky coast. Also, the field size for the race will remain limited to 4,000 runners.

Proceeds from next summer's race will again benefit a Maine-based youth organization, as part of the bank's commitment to young people throughout the state. The organization selected to benefit from the 2000 race is Turning Point Farm in New Gloucester, Maine. A minimum of $30,000 will be presented to this year's beneficiary.

This is the third year for the popular race, which last year saw more than 3,400 finishers and a champion who is continuing to shake up the running world with record-breaking times. Khalid Khannouchi of Morocco covered the Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K in a course-record 27 minutes, 48 seconds ÷ the first recorded sub-28- minute 10K ever run in Maine. Last month, Khannouchi was at it again, setting a world record at the Lasalle Banks Chicago Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes, 42 seconds ÷ shattering the old mark by 23 seconds.

"On behalf of the bank and the race committee, I am very pleased that this particular organization has been selected to receive the race proceeds," said David J. Ott, president and CEO of Peoples Heritage Bank. "Their mission assists the children of this state who are in so desperate need of a safe and nurturing environment. We are proud to be able to include them in our PeoplesPromise: Shining the Light for Maine Youth program."

Turning Point Farm is a non-profit corporation that operates a group home for children, ages 6 to 11, who are in the custody of the Maine Department of Human Services due to physical and/or sexual abuse and neglect. The organization provides a stable, long-term, family-style setting that enables a child's healing process to proceed without disruption. The farm program
incorporates animal-assisted therapy, focusing on the human/animal bond, and animal-assisted activities into a child's daily routine on the 15-acre farm in New Gloucester.

The Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K road race was founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson, a
1984 Olympic gold medalist and two-time Boston Marathon champion from Maine. Samuelson serves as a spokesperson for the bank during the year to promote the race and the bank's "PeoplesPromise" program, which benefits Maine youths with scholarships, sponsorship programs, and charitable gifts.

The Peoples Beach to Beacon race has quickly become a ÃŽmust' event on the schedules of many elite runners worldwide as well as top runners locally and across New England.

"It's such a great race ÷ the beautiful course, the elite runners who come from around the world and the thousands of people who line up along the roadside in Cape Elizabeth cheering and building excitement," Samuelson said. "It's just been an outstanding effort on the part of the bank and the people of Maine to create something special."

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