Former Bonny Eagle High and Cheverus High runner Emily Durgin just missed becoming the first American woman to win the Beach to Beacon 10K when she placed second in 2022. She’s back for another attempt on Saturday, along with Sanford native Rachel Smith. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Truth be told, Rachel Smith and Emily Durgin would rather be in Paris. But if you can’t be in the Olympics, taking a crack at being the first American woman to win their home state’s top road race is a pretty good alternative.

The two Maine natives and professional distance runners were unsuccessful in their bids to make the U.S. Olympic track and field team. With their schedules open in early August, the two residents of Flagstaff, Arizona, have returned to Maine to visit family and friends – and to run the annual TD Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth.

Both Durgin and Smith have a legitimate shot to make history as the first American woman to win the race, which Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson started in 1998.

“Oh my gosh, it really would be special to do that,” said Smith, who grew up in Sanford. “Being born in Maine and growing up in Maine, and my parents only living a half hour away, and Joanie is such a legend in this sport and all the impact she’s had, especially on the women’s side. That would be so awesome.”

There’s also the possibility of significant payday for each runner.

The overall men’s and women’s winners each receive $10,000, with payouts down to 10th place. The fastest Americans earn an extra $5,000.

Samuelson, who is not running Saturday, will be at the finish line to greet the women’s winner and the rest of the 6,000-plus runners.

“They’ve competed really well at the national and international stage,” Samuelson said of Durgin and Smith. “I’d love to see it. I think a top-three finish. I mean, remember Ben True? That could be Emily or Rachel.”

True, who grew up in North Yarmouth, is the only American to win the Beach to Beacon 10K. He did it in 2016, which was also an Olympic year. True had finished fifth in the 5,000 meters at the Olympic trials, two spots shy of qualifying for the Olympics.

This year, Durgin, 30, focused on the marathon. She placed ninth in the marathon trials in February, fading over the final miles.

Sanford native Rachel Smith finished fifth at the Beach to Beacon 10K in 2022. Smith, who qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the 10,000 meters ran her first track race since 2021 on March 16, finishing fifth at The Ten in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Smith, 33, a 2021 Olympian in the 5,000 meters and a Hoka runner, placed ninth in the 5,000 at this year’s Olympic trials and did not finish the 10,000-meter final, pulling off the track with about seven laps to go.

“They didn’t make the Olympic team. They came close. I think they have something to prove here,” Samuelson said. “And disappointment adds fuel to fire.”

Smith’s Olympic trials was marred by what she called “a series of unfortunate events and a season of bad luck.”

A hamstring injury six weeks before the trials limited her training. Then she got COVID just before the 5,000-meter heat. During the 10,000 meters, Smith was hit with a stomach bug that had beset the rest of her family.

“It was kind of heartbreaking, to be honest. Not how I was hoping that would go, but that’s often the sport,” Smith said.

Both Smith and Durgin have been successful on the roads in 2024 and are entering Saturday’s race in fine shape.

Smith has won USATF road race championships this year at the 15K and 8K distances. Durgin won the USATF 10-mile championship.

“The plan is to go with the leaders,” Smith said. “I feel pretty fit right now, so I’m very much looking forward to this one.”

Durgin, who grew up in Standish, has been in Maine since early June, training and using her home state as the travel base for trips to road races in New York City, Boston and Canton, Ohio. Beach to Beacon will be her last race until the Valencia Marathon in Spain on Dec. 1.

“I’m ending my season here and the goal is to go out and run at the top of the field and try to win,” said Durgin, noting she’ll take a short break before starting her marathon buildup.

The pro women will start at 8 a.m., with the top men taking off at the front of the mass start at 8:12. Wheelchair participants begin at 7:50 a.m.

Smith said this will be the first time she can show her best at Beach to Beacon. She was fifth in 2022 and 12th a year ago in her first race after the birth of her daughter, Nova, in April.

“And the first one (2022), I was pregnant. I found out right after,” Smith said.

Durgin did not race Beach to Beacon in 2023 but was second in 2022, the closest an American woman has come to winning since Libbie Hickman was second in a photo finish in 2000.

The Beach to Beacon 10K will be the fourth time Smith and Durgin have been in the same race this year.

Smith won the USATF 15K championship in Jacksonville, Florida, in March, with Durgin finishing third. Durgin was the top American (second overall) at the 10-mile Cherry Blossom race in Washington, D.C., in April, claiming her first national title. Smith placed second.

Most recently, both attended the USATF 6K in Canton, Ohio on July 13, with Smith placing fifth and Durgin sixth. Smith then won the 8K championship in Kingsport, Tennessee, on July 20.

“I figure me and Rachel will be two of the top Americans,” Durgin said. “Obviously, I was second two years ago and I really pushed most of the race. I want to go out fast enough that it doesn’t leave it down to a kick.”

Smith’s 8K win elevated her to first in the season-long USATF Running Circuit points standing. She intends to run the final three races on the circuit (20K in New Haven, Connecticut, on Sept. 2; 10K in Northport, New York, on Sept. 21; 5K in New York City on Nov. 2). The points champion earns a $30,000 bonus.

Durgin and Smith will be watching friends and fellow competitors at the Summer Olympics.

“Of course I’ll watch it,” Durgin said. “The wounds have healed and now I’m looking forward to my next marathon.”

Smith will head to Paris shortly after Saturday’s race. Her husband and coach, Mike Smith, trained five runners who qualified for the Olympics – Americans Abbihamid Nur (men’s 5,000), Nico Young (men’s 10,000), Woody Kincaid (men’s 10,000) and Nikki Hiltz (women’s 1,500), and Louis Grijalva of Guatemala (men’s 5,000).

“As bittersweet as it is, I think I’ll be able to put the parts of it about me that are a little sad or heavy aside and celebrate my husband and friends,” Smith said.