A Bowdoinham resident takes the women’s crown while a South Portland High junior captures the men’s title.
By Justin Pelletier
Staff Writer

CAPE ELIZABETH – One of them hadn’t run a race in months and the other is just 16 years old.

Now, both Maggie Hanson, 23, of Bowdoinham, a recent graduate of Hamilton College in New York, and Eric Giddings, a junior-to-be at South Portland High School, are Maine’s Peoples Beach to Beacon champions.

Giddings appeared from the middle of the pack, seemingly out of nowhere, to take the men’s title in 31:18, 10 full seconds ahead of two-time defending champion Andy Spaulding of Freeport.

“I don’t know if I was supposed to be able to do this, but it feels really good,” said Giddings, who has been an all-state runner in both cross country and track for South Portland High School.

“I had joked with my friends about it.”

Sneaking forward into the pack of elite runners, Giddings crossed the line in 17th place overall.

“It was kind of weird though coming through near the end,” said Giddings. “I heard someone yell behind me: ‘Go Ben!’, which usually means Ben True (a recent graduate of Greely High School and one of the best runners in Maine) is right behind me. Then I came around another corner, and after the clapping stopped for me, it tailed off a bit, so I figured I was OK.”

Bob Winn of Ogunquit, another two-time Maine champion at the Beach to Beacon, crossed at 31:49 to take third place.

For Hanson, the race was a homecoming of sorts. After graduating from Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham in 1998, she went to Hamilton College where she ran for four years.

Now, after a successful internship in Washington, D.C, she is on her way to graduate school, but is in Maine taking a well-deserved rest.

“I was sort of injured through the end of college and I didn’t know exactly what was going to happen here today,” said Hanson. “I’ve been running in the race for a few years now. Hopefully now that I did this well I’ll be able to come back from grad school and run in it again.”

Hanson will attend school in Vancouver this fall. Her time of 35:48 was 20 seconds better than Jenna Richardson of China, Maine.

Two-time defending women’s champion Christine Snow-Reaser of Dayton finished fourth, and Yarmouth native Susannah Beck finished in 10th overall but is not eligible as a Maine runner due to her living arrangements.

jpelletier@sunjournal.com

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