Volunteers Still Needed for Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race

As many as 200 more needed to help August 2 event run smoothly

CAPE ELIZABETH, Maine - Volunteers are still needed for the sixth annual Peoples Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race to be held here Saturday, August 2.

Persons interested in volunteering should contact Maya Cohen, the volunteer director for this year's race, at (207) 838-8816. Copies of the volunteer application form also may be printed from the race's web site, www.beach2beacon.org or picked up at any Peoples Heritage Bank branch statewide.

The Peoples Beach to Beacon, founded by Joan Benoit Samuelson and Peoples Heritage Bank, has become one of the marquee events in the international road race circuit, attracting elite athletes from throughout the world to Maine. To ensure a smooth operation, the event, which attracts about 10,000 spectators who line the course, requires as many as 650 volunteers each year. So far this year, 450 people have signed up to volunteer.

Volunteers are still needed on race day both before and during the race in a number of areas, Cohen said. Areas where help is needed include parking and security, the runners food tent, the Young Peoples Run, water stations, course breakdown, start breakdown, baggage assistance and line management for shuttle buses. Volunteers receive a commemorative t-shirt for their efforts.

Runners from around the world, New England and Maine - 5,000 in all - will compete in the race that begins at Crescent Beach along Route 77 and ends 6.2 miles later in Fort Williams at the Portland Head lighthouse, the most photographed lighthouse in America. The youth organization chosen by the bank as the 2003 race beneficiary is Seeds of Peace, a group that promotes tolerance and understanding among youth around the world through its various camps, including one in Otisfield, Maine.

# # #