CAPE ELIZABETH — Twenty-seven years and one day have passed since Joan Benoit Samuelson became every American distance runner’s hero.

Since that hot August day in 1984 — the day on which Samuelson was crowned the first women’s Olympic marathon champion — her reputation as a runner, humanitarian and human being has won over the hearts and minds of people across the globe.

It’s no surprise, then, that some of the best distance runners in the world return year after year to Samuelson’s hometown for the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K, now one of the premier road races in the world.

“I keep on coming back because I have a bond with (Samuelson),” two-time Olympic silver medalist, four-time Boston marathon champion and five-time Beach to Beacon winner Catherine Ndereba said. “Her being an Olympian, and not just an Olympian, but a very special person, I always feel it’s great to get to come to her hometown, and also get to share her idea, her wonderful idea. This is all about one of her wonderful ideas. It’s good to have such a wonderful event in her hometown.”

Ndereba recalled learning of Samuelson’s exploits at the Olympics and world level from her coach after she finished high school.

“I started hearing a lot about Joannie Benoit in 1993, when I finished my high school,” Ndereba said. “It was through my coach that I got to know her. He would show me all of her stories from the past newspapers. My coach told me that she had won her Olympic championship after having knee surgery. I couldn’t wait to meet this great person who could go through that much and still win something for her country.”

The two met at the Bix 7 race in Davenport, Iowa, in 1996. Two years later, at the inaugural Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Ndereba knew where she had to be.

“I got a chance to meet her back in 1996 at the Bix race (in Iowa), and since then, she has really made me the type of runner I am,” Ndereba said. “She’s full of inspiration.”

Ndereba won the inaugural Beach to Beacon 10K, and four of the next five, as well.

“I got a chance to meet her back in 1996 at the Bix race (in Iowa), and since then, she has really made me the type of runner I am,” Ndereba said. “She’s full of inspiration.”

Samuelson, meanwhile, is presiding over the 14th annual event with as much fanfare and hoopla as one might expect from one of the most decorated American distance runners of all time, which is to say, with none at all.

“I think (the elite runners) are running because they love the race course, they love their host families,” Samuelson said. “It really becomes a homecoming of sorts for many of them. The fact that the race is recognized as one of the best events in the country certainly helps, and that’s because of the organizing committee. It’s because of the fast course. It’s because of the host families and the countless volunteers.”

Samuelson’s humility and continued evasion of others’ praise aside, though, the still-active and still-competitive Olympic gold medalist continues to remind herself and any others who will listen why the TD Bank Beach to Beacon remains so important to her after all this time.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that the two (athletic success and the race) go hand in hand,” Samuelson said. “The first thing I said to myself when I saw the light at the end of the tunnel in L.A. was, ‘Don’t let this change who I am, and you’re going to make a promise to yourself right now that you’re going to give back to a sport and a state that have given you so much.’ There hasn’t been a better vehicle. This is it. It’s a culmination of all of that.

“This is an event that is as accessible to as many people as we can possibly make it accessible to,” Samuelson continued. “I still hear stories from people who have never run a step, or people who are running their first Beach to Beacon, or how this event has changed their lives. And to me, that makes it sustainable. That makes it truly an event that transcends the elite runners and the everyday runners.”

Elite athlete coordinator Larry Barthlow has again assembled one of the top 10K fields in the world, and said Friday he believes the course records may be in jeopardy.

“We know a lot of these runners are very fast,” Barthlow said. “There have been some fast times around the world this year, and many of these runners are responsible for those times.”

Top men expected to challenge for the title in Saturday morning’s race include two-time champion Ed Muge, Micah Kogo, who has run the fastest 10K in the world this year, Allan Kiprono, last year’s runner-up and three-time champion and fan-favorite Gilbert Okari.

On the women’s side, Deena Kastor will be making her first appearance at the Beach to Beacon 10K. Kastor is the American marathon and half-marathon record-holder. She won the bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics, and has won marathons in Chicago and London. She is currently training for the Olympic marathon trials for a potential spot on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.

Other top women include Buzunesh Deba, who has won six of her past eight marathons, Diane Nukuri-Johnson, a former All-American at Iowa and a third-place finished at the Bix 7 last week, Aheza Kiros of Ethiopia and Julliah Tinega, who took second at the Bix 7 and first at the Bellin 10K.

Top Maine runners vying for the unofficial title of Maine road racing champion include a trio of women who all train and run together. Defending champion Kristin Barry of Scarborough, former champion Sheri Piers of Falmouth and Scarborough’s Erica Jesseman are likely to be the top three contenders on the Maine women’s side.

Maine men’s defending champ Pat Tarpy is unable to race this week, meaning there will be a new men’s winner. Among the better Maine men in the field is well-decorated Ellsworth runner Louie Luchini, a 10-time All-American who’s now a state legislator. Jonny Wilson and Ethan Shaw of Falmouth, Tom Ryan of Cape Elizabeth and Riley Masters of Orono are also top Maine contenders.

The race begins Saturday at 8 a.m.