TD Beach to Beacon 10K 2026: A Local's Guide to Running and Watching Maine's Best Race
At eight o'clock on the first Saturday in August, a stretch of Route 77 that is usually somebody's quiet commute past the salt marsh becomes the most famous six miles in New England. Eight thousand people stand on the closed road beside Crescent Beach, close enough to the water to smell the low tide, and wait for a gun. Most of them will never win anything, and they did not come to. They came because for one morning a year, running a road in Cape Elizabeth makes you part of something the state has been doing for almost three decades, and because the race ends in front of a lighthouse.
That race is the TD Beach to Beacon 10K, and the 2026 edition runs Saturday, August 1. It is the best road race in Maine and one of the best 10Ks in the country, and if you are reading this hoping to register, here is the honest headline first: it is already sold out. That does not mean you are shut out of the morning. This guide covers the course, the race-day logistics that trip up first-timers, where to stand if you are spectating, and the real ways still left to be part of it this year.
What the Beach to Beacon actually is
Joan Benoit Samuelson, the Cape Elizabeth native who won the first women's Olympic marathon in 1984 and is still Maine's most recognizable athlete, founded the race in 1998 as the People's Beach to Beacon. She wanted a world-class 10K on the coastal roads she grew up running, with the proceeds going to a Maine children's charity each year. It worked almost immediately. With TD Bank as title sponsor and Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray running the operation, the race pulls a genuine international elite field, hands out real prize money, and still feels like a town event at its core.
The numbers tell the story of how hard it is to get in. For 2026, organizers released 600 bibs to Cape Elizabeth residents and roughly 7,500 to the general public. The resident bibs were gone in about two hours. The public race opened on a Wednesday and sold out by the next day. Add the elites, sponsors, legacy runners, and charity entries and the field runs north of 8,000. This is the rare regional race where the demand is closer to a major marathon than a local 10K, and it fills accordingly.
The course: fast, coastal, and built for a great finish
The Beach to Beacon is a point-to-point course, which is part of why it runs fast. You start near Crescent Beach State Park on Route 77, head north, and bear right early onto Old Ocean House Road, a narrow lane that rejoins Route 77 before the route turns toward the coast and drops you into Fort Williams Park. The opening is flat with a slight downhill tilt, the kind of start that tempts you to go out too fast, and the rolling middle miles through Cape Elizabeth are honest without being brutal. The highest point on the whole course is only about 100 feet above sea level.
Then there is the finish, which is the reason people fly in for this. You come into Fort Williams Park and cross the line in the shadow of Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in America, with Casco Bay over your shoulder. There is no better closing quarter-mile in road racing in the region, and it is worth running the whole thing a hair conservatively just to be able to look up and take it in. If the lighthouse is the only Maine landmark you see all trip, you can read why it earns the hype in our guide to Portland Head Light and the Cape Elizabeth lighthouses.
Race-day logistics, the part that actually trips people up
The single thing to understand about Beach to Beacon morning is that there is no runner parking at the finish. Fort Williams is reserved for sponsors, press, volunteers, staff, and a small number of spectators. Everyone else parks at satellite lots around Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, and Scarborough and rides a shuttle to the start. The exact satellite lots move from year to year, so check the official Parking and Transportation page the week of the race rather than trusting last year's map.
Here is the rhythm that does not change much. Pre-race shuttles run from the satellite lots roughly 6:00 to 7:15am, so plan to be parked and on a bus by 6:30 at the latest. The wave start on August 1, 2026 goes wheelchair division at 7:50, professional women at 8:00, and professional men plus the mass 10K field at 8:12. Post-race shuttles run from Fort Williams back to the lots from about 9:00 to 11:00am, and you need to be on one by 11. If you are cycling in, there is a bike valet, but you have to be on the valet shuttle to the start by about 6:45. Route 77 and the roads around the course close from roughly 6 to 10am, so if you live in Cape Elizabeth, plan your morning around the closures whether or not you are running.
None of this is hard once you know it. The people who have a rough morning are the ones who show up at 7:30 expecting to park near the finish. Do not be that person. Build in the shuttle time and the start becomes the easy part.
If you are spectating: where to stand
Watching this race well is its own skill, and it is one of the better free mornings you can have in Greater Portland. The two best spots are the start and the finish, and you usually have to pick one because of the road closures and shuttles. The finish at Fort Williams is the showstopper, with the lighthouse backdrop and the post-race celebration on the lawn, but spectator access there is limited and fills early. A friend or family member can drop a runner near the start only if they arrive at Fort Williams before 7:30am and only while spectator parking lasts.
The smartest spectating move for locals is to skip the parking puzzle entirely and pick a point along the Cape Elizabeth course, on a stretch of Route 77 or near Old Ocean House Road, where you can walk or bike from home and cheer the whole field streaming past. You lose the lighthouse photo but you gain a front-row seat to 8,000 runners and zero logistics. Then go find the finish-line results and the celebration afterward. If you are making a morning of it, the start is a short walk from Crescent Beach, one of the better swimming beaches south of the city, covered in our roundup of the best beaches near Portland.
How to get in now that 2026 is sold out
A sold-out general race is not the end of the road. There are still a few legitimate ways into the 2026 event, and one clean plan for next year.
The most meaningful is a charity bib. Each year the race names a single beneficiary, and the 2026 beneficiary is Dirigo Reads, a Maine children's literacy nonprofit. Dirigo Reads releases a small number of entries, around 50, to people who commit to fundraising for the cause, and as of registration weekend it had already cleared $60,000. If a charity bib is still available, it is both your way in and the most in-the-spirit-of-the-race way to run it, since raising money for Maine kids is the entire reason Joanie started the thing. Beyond that, the race runs an official transfer policy for registered runners who cannot make it, so a legitimate transferred bib is possible, and you should never buy or sell a bib outside that official process because unsanctioned bandit running gets people disqualified and banned.
The other two ways in do not require a number at all. Volunteers make the race happen, from the water stops to the finish chute, and signing up to volunteer is the easiest way to be inside the event and is genuinely needed. And if your real goal is to run it, the plan for 2027 is simple: registration opens in mid-April, the public race historically sells out within a day, so set a calendar reminder for early April, have your account and payment ready, and register the minute general entry opens.
A note on whether this should be your first 10K
Honesty is the point of this site, so here it is. The Beach to Beacon is a wonderful race and a hard place to learn how to race. Eight thousand runners, a fast early downhill that punishes an over-eager start, and a finish you will want to enjoy rather than survive all argue for having a season of fitness behind you. If you have never pinned on a number, do not make this your debut. Run a couple of low-key summer 5Ks first to learn what a start line feels like, build from there, and chase the big one with the training to back it up. Our guide to where to run in Greater Portland lays out the routes and run clubs to get started, and the full regional racing calendar, from neighborhood 5Ks to the fall marathon, is in our guide to the competitive summer in Greater Portland.
Running for a cause is also a thread that runs through the best of the Greater Portland sports calendar, not just this race. If the charity-bib idea appeals to you, the region's give-back-through-sport scene goes well beyond the roads, from running fundraisers to the charity golf circuit that quietly raises millions every summer.
FAQ
When is the TD Beach to Beacon 10K in 2026?
The TD Beach to Beacon 10K runs Saturday, August 1, 2026, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. It is held on the first Saturday of August every year. The wheelchair division starts at 7:50am, the professional women at 8:00am, and the professional men and the mass 10K field at 8:12am, with awards at 10:30am.
Is the 2026 Beach to Beacon sold out, and can I still get in?
Yes, the 2026 race sold out within days of registration opening in April. The remaining ways in are a charity bib through the 2026 beneficiary, Dirigo Reads, if any are still available, or an officially transferred bib through the race's transfer policy. You can also volunteer to be part of the event without running. Do not buy a bib outside the official transfer process, as bandit running leads to disqualification.
Where do I park for the Beach to Beacon, and is there a shuttle?
There is no runner parking at the Fort Williams finish. Runners park at satellite lots around Cape Elizabeth, South Portland, and Scarborough and take a shuttle to the start, running roughly 6:00 to 7:15am before the race and 9:00 to 11:00am after. Plan to be parked and on a bus by 6:30am. The exact satellite lots change year to year, so confirm them on the official Parking and Transportation page the week of the race.
What is the Beach to Beacon course like?
It is a fast, point-to-point 10K that starts near Crescent Beach State Park on Route 77, runs the rolling coastal roads of Cape Elizabeth, and finishes inside Fort Williams Park beside Portland Head Light. The opening is flat with a slight downhill, the middle miles roll gently, and the highest point is only about 100 feet above sea level. The lighthouse finish is one of the best in the sport.
Where is the best place to watch the Beach to Beacon?
The finish at Fort Williams, with the Portland Head Light backdrop and the post-race celebration, is the showpiece but has limited spectator access that fills early. For locals, the easiest great option is to pick a spot along the Cape Elizabeth course on Route 77 or near Old Ocean House Road that you can walk or bike to, watch the whole field stream past, and skip the parking entirely.
Who started the Beach to Beacon and what charity does it support?
Cape Elizabeth native and Olympic marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson founded the race in 1998 to benefit Maine children's charities. Each year names a single beneficiary, and the 2026 beneficiary is Dirigo Reads, a Maine children's literacy nonprofit. TD Bank is the title sponsor and Dave McGillivray is the race director.