Transcription of Maya Cohen for the show Running/Spring Feet #36
Dr. Lisa: As part of our Spring Feet Running Show, we have in the studio with us today Maya Cohen who is the volunteer coordinator for the TD Beach to Beacon 10k race being held in Cape Elizabeth and this is an annual event. Maya, welcome to the studio.
Maya: Thank you for having me.
Dr. Lisa: Maya, tell us about the Beach to Beacon race.
Maya: The Beach to Beacon is a point to point race that leaves from Crescent Beach in Cape Elizabeth Maine to Fort Williams, the Portland Headlight. It’s a 10-kilometer race and we have about 6,000 runners and this is the 15th running of the race.
Dr. Lisa: What’s the background of the Beach to Beacon?
Maya: The background is, is that the vision that Joan Benoit Samuelson had was to share her backyard of Cape Elizabeth, Maine and have a point to point race along the coast and the along the shores of Cape Elizabeth and to end the finish line with the Portland Headlight.
Dr. Lisa: Joan Benoit who was an Olympic marathon winner and actually just ran Boston again I believe.
Maya: Yes, she did.
Dr. Lisa: With her daughter and is a fellow Bowdoin graduate so she grew up in Cape Elizabeth.
Maya: Yes, she did. she won the women’s first gold medal in marathoning in 1984 and she and her daughter finished the Boston marathon together at the anniversary of women being able to participate in the marathon and also the anniversary of Title 9 for women involved in sports.
Dr. Lisa: Tell me how fast the entries filled this year.
Maya: Well, I believe the entries … We staggered them so that we filled or we had Cape Elizabeth residents fill in 4 minutes then the next day we had just general registrations for runners and that filled in I think 5 minutes and then the lottery. We reserve so many slots for lottery participants so we fill pretty quickly. The first time that we had online registration, it was like shoving a basketball into a garden hose. It was difficult.
Dr. Lisa: Yes, a lot of technical problems but those seem to have been resolved now.
Maya: Definitely. Definitely.
Dr. Lisa: I know that when I tried to register a few years back, it was one of those, you have to sit at the computer and just click and click and click and click but you’ve now made improvements in that area.
Maya: We’ve made a lot of improvements. We’re very fortunate that the race is that popular. That people want to run.
Dr. Lisa: How many runners do you have this year?
Maya: 6,000.
Dr. Lisa: You still have some slots available for people who want to do charity, right, charity fundraising
Maya: Yes, absolutely.
Dr. Lisa: Tell me about … This is a running show and what I’m interested in from you, Maya, is what can people do if they can’t run a 10k but they still want to be involved in running in some way. What can people do for Beach to Beacon?
Maya: Well you can volunteer. We have a great volunteer program in place. we have about 800 jobs that have to be done between the Wednesday before the race and the day of the race and they range from working with medical professionals or being a medical professional working in our medical tent to helping set up the course, helping in registration. It’s a … The volunteer piece is really important because without the volunteers, a race of this magnitude is very difficult if not impossible to host.
Dr. Lisa: There are a lot of Cape Elisabeth residents that don’t necessarily volunteer per se but they’re out on the course and they’re providing course support and cheering the runners as they go by.
Maya: Yes, we have a lot of residents who are very supportive of the runners. They’re just handing out water or playing music along the course, that kind of thing. It’s really special. It’s a big community event really.
Genevieve: I’ve run the Beach to Beacon once. I’m not a huge runner and the thing that I felt … I’d never run in a race before. I was pretty intimidated about that idea but it’s such a friendly atmosphere. It made me think, “Wow, I could run races. Everyone’s so nice.” I always thought it was very competitive but it felt very family-like almost.
Maya: We joke ever year amongst ourselves in the organizing committee that the Beach to Beacon is a lot like a big family reunion for us at Thanksgiving. You spend all this time preparing for Thanksgiving dinner. Everybody hurries up and eats it and then you’re left with the cleanup but by and large everyone has a great time and that’s really what it is. it’s once a year you get to meet your other family, your other running family or your organizing family and it’s really a lot of fun. The host families that are generous enough to open their homes to all the elite athletes and stay with them, they form some very special bonds throughout the year and it’s a very, very special event.
Dr. Lisa: Is that another way that people could get involved? people who live in the areas, they could become host families.
Maya: Absolutely. You have to commit to about a 5-day stay for an athlete to stay with you and we have very few requirements for host stays. The major requirement though is you have to live in Cape Elizabeth and that is simply from a logistics standpoint.
Dr. Lisa: Maya, when is the Beach to Beacon?
Maya: It’s August 4th of this year and it’s the first Saturday every year.
Dr. Lisa: Is there a reason that Beach to Beacon is held besides showing people where Joan Benoit Samuelson ran? Is there a charitable organization that’s benefited?
Maya: Yes, every year the race selects a charitable organization that shines the light on children and this year is the Center for Grieving Children.
Dr. Lisa: Past recipients of this have been?
Maya: Riding to the Top, Maine Handicap Skiing, Camp Sunshine so a broad variety of children’s organizations.
Dr. Lisa: A broad variety of children’s organizations. Which I should mention we’ve actually had representatives from some of these places in our studios so we do agree that it’s important to be spotlighting these. Maya, how can people find out more about the Beach to Beacon race?
Maya: Well, you can go to our website. It’s www.beach2beacon.org. you’ll find a lot of information on that particular website about the race, about past runners, race winners, how to volunteer, which is something that I like to have on there but it’s a great resource of information and you can read about past beneficiaries as well.
Dr. Lisa: Now this show is airing in May. The Beach to Beacon is not till August. Is it too soon for people to be contacting you about volunteering?
Maya: Not at all. We are in full registration mode for volunteers. We have a need for about 700 volunteers. Many volunteers do many other jobs, double up on jobs during the week, during race week but it’s always good to sign up early so that you can get the job that you’d like to do but there is still time to register.
Dr. Lisa: All right. well, thank you so much for coming in and …
Maya: Thank you for having me.
Dr. Lisa: … Talking to you today. we appreciate it.
Maya: Thank you.