CAPE ELIZABETH – Early spots of sun gave way to light drizzle and showers as 5,000 runners toed the line at the People’s Beach to Beacon 10K on Sunday.

At the front of the field stood the lanky Gilbert Okari, the defending champion, wearing a seemingly jinxed bib No. 1. No men’s runner had ever won twice at the Beach to Beacon.

Until Sunday.

Okari went out quickly, actually besting his first- and second-mile splits from one year ago when he set the course record, and beat out fellow countryman Thomas Kiplitan by three seconds to win his second consecutive People’s Beach to Beacon 10K in 27:35. Though the time is slower than the record he set last year, it is still faster than the previous record of 27:48 set by Khalid Khannouchi in 1999, giving Okari the two fastest winning times in the race’s seven-year history. This year’s time is also the fastest 10k time in the world so far this year.

“It helped to have people around me this year,” Okari said. “I was in better shape to run this race last year, and having people around me, and good runners, it pushed the pace faster.”

In the women’s race, it was Kenyan Susan Chepkemei breaking the tape in near-record fashion, just missing Catherine Ndereba’s mark by one second at 31:35.

“I was just running for the best time I could,” Chepkemei said. “We prepare and train in every kind of weather, either rain or heat or humidity, so you learn to adapt to it in a race.”

The weather played an integral part in Sunday’s race. While it looked as though the sun might peek out early, clouds rolled in and started to spray runners and spectators with a light, misty rain, helping to cool competitors as they made their way from Crescent Beach to Portland Head Light at Fort Williams Park.

“The heat and humidity tends to take a lot out of you by itself,” said Maine runner Ethan Hemphill of Freeport. “When I woke up at 5:30 and saw what the weather was going to be, as a 6-foot, 1-inch 165-pound guy, I was pretty happy.”

Okari started his race quickly, just like last year, and went through the first two miles in nine minutes flat. With him for two miles were Kiplitan, Robert Cheryiout, Wilson Kiprotich, Ben Maiyo, Kahlid Khannouchi and Luke Kipkosgei.

As the group made it to the four-mile mark, runners started to drop back. By the fifth mile, it was a clear race between Okari and Kiplitan.

“We all assisted each other until the last part,” Okari said. “In the last 600 meters or so I was able to kick harder than the other guys. It was a strong push.”

Chepkemei, meanwhile, finished her first People’s Beach to Beacon 10K in style, well ahead of Japan’s Masako Chiba, who finished 15 seconds back in second place.

“When we got to four miles, I was with two other people,” Chepkemei said. “I suddenly pushed harder there to see what they would do, what they would feel when I pushed. I went from there. I was all by myself after that and just went the way my body felt.”

After the race, Okari and Chepkemei cooled down together, running around the grounds of the park in warm-ups. The two are very familiar with each other, both training together in Kenya, along with most of the Kenyan contingent at the race on Sunday.

Khannouchi was the top American in the men’s field, finishing seventh in 29 minutes flat, while Nicole Jefferson was the top American female with an eighth-place finish, less than two minutes behind Chepkemei.

A record 4,354 runners finished this year’s race, including Maine Gov. John Baldacci, who has now run in the race two years in a row. He is the first sitting governor to run in the race.