CAPE ELIZABETH – For the first time in days the sun was bright and the breeze just right as it blew in off the water. In the distance, the clanging of buoys marking sea shoals added to the already picturesque setting at Portland Head Light in Fort Williams Park.

Joan Benoit Samuelson dons her large, dark sunglasses to shield her eyes from the sun, which had yet to peak on this midsummer day. They are glasses that look like those worn by a person trying to avoid the spotlight, as would a movie star or current major sports celebrity.

Twenty years ago, there was no bigger celebrity in sports than Maine’s Joan Benoit as she rounded the final turn and headed toward her historic gold medal in the first Olympic women’s marathon, It was one of the more poignant moments at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

Now, on a near perfect summer day, while Samuelson remains nostalgic about an event that could have, and some say should have, defined her as a person, she tries to deflect the focus back to the here-and-now, to the Joan Benoit Samuelson of 2004, 20 years later.

“It’s 20 years,” Samuelson said. “I don’t think about it this year more than in any other year, except now I look at the 20 years and think ‘Wow, that’s a really long time.’ The memory is still vivid, as I think it always will be and should be, but I just hope that it doesn’t define who I am as a person anymore.”

Pride in history

Although 20 years have passed, Samuelson still smiled when her moment at the podium became the topic of conversation.

“I still get chills,” Samuelson said. “I think I would have shown much more emotion on the outside if the medal presentation had been immediately following the race. Where I had time to cool down a little, it kind of soaked in slowly.”

Even though Samuelson won the inaugural marathon for women in 1984 in a time of 2:24:52, more than 1:30 ahead of Grete Waitz of Norway, the most important part of the games had already taken place in her mind.

“To me, the most defining moment of the whole experience was the Opening Ceremonies,” Samuelson said. “If I had walked away from the games without a medal I still would have been satisfied. It was such a thrill just to be there, but to win in front of a home crowd, that was special, too. There was so much support out there. I still couldn’t believe that it had actually happened. Every child dreams of being an Olympic athlete. I had the opportunity to live that dream.”

State of the sport

It’s no secret that the United States, since 1984, has been lacking in competitive distance runners, both men and women. Since Samuelson’s win, the United States has won just one medal, a bronze by Lynn Jennings in the 1992 10,000-meter race, in any race longer than 800-meters. Still, the sport, at least according to Samuelson, seems to be rebounding.

“I think this year’s teams, both the men and the women, are the strongest we’ve had in a long time,” Samuelson said. “Maybe even the strongest women’s team ever.”

The problem isn’t necessarily a lack of talent, she said, but a lack of focus on those specific events.

“I think the natural reaction is to focus on what a country is good at,” Samuelson said. “The American team has a strong history in the sprinting events, and so much of the focus shifts to those. Also, it is very hard to beat the African nations now in distance events. It’s sad, but the sprints always receive a lot of the attention.”

As for the drug crisis now affecting the American track and field team, the focus there, too, has been on the sprinters.

“I don’t know that it is entirely out of distance running,” Samuelson said. “But it’s not as big an issue in distance running. People now just don’t know who’s clean anymore.”

Pride in the present

For the past seven years, Samuelson has committed her time and energy to what was at first a small 10-kilometer race through the streets of Cape Elizabeth that has now grown into one of the premier road races in all of the world, the Beach to Beacon 10k.

According to the Cape Elizabeth native and current Freeport resident, seven years has brought several different experiences that continue to make the race fresh and exciting every year.

“The different beneficiaries we have every year, just seeing the self-esteem exude from the people as they cross the finish line, some for the first time ever. To see the pride in the people’s faces that live here, that help out with the race, that is what keeps it fresh every year,” Samuelson said.

This year, race organizers have added a youth clinic on a rare off day on Saturday. The race will for the first time be contested on a Sunday this year.

“There are always things that we can improve upon,” Samuelson said. “This year, because the race is on a Sunday, we are having a non-denominational service on Saturday night to accommodate all of those in town that will not be able to get to Church on Sunday because of the road closings. There is always something, and that makes it unique every year.”

Also in consideration this year is the field, which may be affected by the Olympic games.

“Actually, many of the runners are using this race as their final tune-up before the Olympics,” Samuelson said.

Six-time women’s champion (and defending champion) Catherine Ndereba and defending men’s champion Jon Korir will be among those in the field of 5,000 runners.

“Just the excitement of it being an Olympic year has created a feeling about the race this year,” Samuelson said. “A lot of people can relate to this sport in general, and especially to this event. It transcends sports, and that is another reason this never gets old.”

The race, what it means to the community and to the state, and what it means to runners across the world, is another reason that Samuelson herself, now 20 years removed from Olympic gold, will also never really grow stale – at least not in the minds and hearts of the millions of people she has touched in her lifetime.