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CAPE ELIZABETH — Ten minutes after winning the men’s wheelchair race at the TD Beach to Beacon 10K on Saturday morning, the excitement radiated off Miguel Jimenez Vergara. The victory made his first trip to Maine a joy.

The 26-year-old racer from National City, California, completed the challenging course in 22 minutes, 36 seconds.

“Going in blind was really tough, especially not knowing the angles at which to take turns,” Vergara said about the race course. “Especially the last little bit gets narrow, and on wheels you’re trying to hold and maintain speeds. It gets very tricky, but I thought it was a really cool course.”

The Beach to Beacon 10K has become the signature sporting event of Maine’s summer, and race organizers have long got it right by including a wheelchair racing field. Saturday, that field was the largest in the event’s history, with 13 racers — six women and seven men.

Compared to the overall field of thousands of runners, that sounds small. Don’t make that unfair comparison. Instead, realize that 13 racers almost doubled last year’s field. Just four years ago, only five competitors took part in the wheelchair division.

The Beach to Beacon 10K has a stellar reputation in the wheelchair racing community, said Yen Hoang of Champaign, Illinois. She won the women’s division in 2022 and 2023 and placed second this year to her teammate, Hoda Elshorbagy of Urbana, Illinois, who won with a time of 26:25.

“I think this race specifically really stands out by making us really feel at home and like family. We athletes feel like we’re being treated right, and we’ll tell teammates and competitors, and I think that’s how the field keeps growing,” said Hoang, 29.

Hermin Garic of Utica, New York, won the men’s wheelchair division three of the previous four years but placed third Saturday behind Vergara and Jason Robinson of Champaign, Illinois. Garic, 36, echoed Hoang’s sentiment, and added that a number of younger racers who had focused on track racing are branching out into road racing. He said if you’re looking for a fun and challenging event, Beach to Beacon should be on your to-do list.

“This race can be technical. It’s got flats. It’s got hills. It’s got turns. It’s got a little bit of everything. It’s a nice challenging course, but it’s also not the most challenging,” Garic said. “Anybody can come out here and do the course as long as they know ahead of time what to watch out for on the course.”

Garic has crashed at the sharp turn entering Fort Williams Park, as has Hoang. Vergara was ready for it. The para racing community is close knit, he said. Racers watch out for each other, and Beach to Beacon veterans gave him a heads up. It was a tricky turn, he said, but he managed it.

Elshorbagy, 36, was also prepared for the technical parts of the course. She last raced here in 2024, when heavy morning rain delayed the start of the event and left a slick course when they finally left the starting line.

“The crowd was good. They cheer us on and help push us through,” she said. “It’s really good to see a lot of athletes enjoying the race, and more opportunity for a lot of athletes. This helps us to grow the sport even better in the future.”

Vergara sees growing the sport as part of his job. That means competing in as many events as he can, and trying to create more opportunities for those who will follow him.

“This one is great for the up-and-comers. Jason Robinson, keep an eye out for him. These guys are getting good. I’d like to see this race get a little bigger for us,” Vergara said.

The prize money for both men and women was $2,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $500 for third. That’s not far off the $2,500 Vergara took home for winning the Los Angeles Marathon in March.

The para national championships were last weekend in New York City. Tony Nogueira, a 12-time wheelchair champion at Beach to Beacon, convinced Vergara to race in Cape Elizabeth. Don’t rush back home to San Diego, he said. Come to Maine.

Vergara had heard about the Beach to Beacon for years. That word of mouth in the wheelchair athlete community was a positive sign. Since the race fit into his schedule, Vergara said sure, why not?

It was worth it.