CAPE ELIZABETH – Many in the pack started to sprint. The finish seemed near – ending the six hard miles already run at the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K.

Aaron Swift stayed cool and collected, not following the surge forward. He knew that the Beach to Beacon course was deceptive, seeming to end when there’s about a quarter mile to go. So when the others started to fade, their preverbal tanks empty, Swift took off with a final explosion of power to finish with a time of 55 minutes flat and into 2,454th out of 5,200 finishers.

Swift, 36, from Minot, had run the race before, but this year he couldn’t run the 30 to 40 miles a week he used to, not with two young kids currently occupying most of his and wife’s time. His goal was not to beat last year’s time, but simply to get under the nine minute threshold.

The running is down to once a week, but Swift treated racing in the Beach to Beacon as more of a traditional pilgrimage than an all-out race to the limits of endurance. The point was speed without drama or pain. All in all, Swift ran the race that everyone hopes to run when entering a 10K – having a good time while meeting a goal.

It is a race that can only be understood by experiencing it. The crowds are immense, more than five thousand runners finished the race this year, and the competition intense. Imagine the entire population of Jay bolting down a small town road as if their life depended on it and then toss in twice that number of people watching and cheering. This should give some small idea of what the Beach to Beacon race is all about.

To run the race both well and enjoyably, it takes a runner like Swift. While he stated early in the course that he “was bad at pacing himself,” Swift’s decisions showed otherwise. Not overestimating or undervaluing one’s pace is something particularly hard to do with the large throng sweeping you along as well as intimidating you. Once in the proper groove though, it’s quite fun with much of the course sidelines resembling more of a carnival then a road race, interspersed with makeshift showers and music from tango to techno blasting both live and over loudspeakers.

After stretching, checking results, and grabbing some food, Swift made his way to the line for the school busses ferrying runners back to the Cape Elizabeth High School, where most of the runners had parked their cars. He was contemplative waiting in line, watching the cool Maine fog roll in over the Fort Williams Park with crowds of runners headed every which way.

“It’s great when you can see the finish line and you know its almost over,” Swift said.

The last hill was painful, but overall, the run was fun, and Swift felt that he never really overexerted himself. Swift will be there next year, the year after that, and as he says, until he can’t come anymore. Judging by his run yesterday, that’s a long way off.