CAPE ELIZABETH — The 14th annual TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K road race will take place Saturday, Aug. 6.

The race is an opportunity for 6,000 runners of all abilities to participate with world-class athletes in a race founded by Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson in 1997, and made possible by thousands of volunteers and staff.

Each year race organizers strive to increase recycling, streamline registration and honor an organization with a sizable donation.

This year, Day One will receive a $30,000 cash donation from TD Bank, through the TD Charitable Foundation. Day One is a a nonprofit organization that has been providing substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment, and after-care programs for Maine youth for more than 30 years.

Runners are encouraged to arrive at the start line on Route 77 by 6:30 a.m. to avoid heavy traffic. For those showing support, roadside parking is not allowed and race officials ask that walkers, joggers, spectators or bicyclists do not travel on the course after 8 a.m. as the roads must be clear for the event.

Green efforts

To increase it’s recycling efforts even more this year, race organizers set a goal to divert at least 65 percent of all waste, with a waste-per-runner rate of less than half a pound.

From the starting line to the celebration in the park after the race, Green Team members will encourage recycling and composting. They will collect and recycle empty, single-use disposable plastic bottles and encourage runners to drop off their old running shoes at the race Expo. Nike will recycle them into Nike Grind, which is used to make tracks, playing surfaces, fields and courts.

Participants will not use paper to register for the race, and the paper in the eco-friendly portable toilets will be recycled.

Race officials also promote ride sharing to the race as a way to reduce carbon emissions and encourage using www.pickuppal.com to organize rides. Satellite parking and transportation is also provided from remote parking lots at South Portland High School and the Hannaford Bros. corporate headquarters in Scarborough.

The start and finish lines will use EPA-approved non-toxic paint called Brite Stripe Ultra-Friendly.

Race-day schedule

Runner drop-off is at the Gull Crest Fields parking lot a half mile from the intersection of Spurwink Road and Route 77. Runners are required to be at the start line by 7:30 a.m.

Runner parking near the start line will be provided at the Sprague Fields at Fowler and Ram Island Farm roads. Parking for runners also is available at Cape’s high school and middle school on a first-come basis. Runners will be shuttled from the parking lots to the start between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m.

Shuttle buses from the South Portland High School at 737 Highland Ave., and the Hannaford offices at 145 Pleasant Hill Road in Scarborough will run from 6:30 to 7:15 a.m., and return to these locations by bus from Fort Williams after the race.

There is no parking for runners at Fort Williams Park. Parking is restricted to media, sponsors, staff and spectators who are advised to carpool and to arrive prior to 7:15 a.m., since Shore Road south of the fort closes at 7:30 a.m. Entrance to the fort from the north, however, will remain open throughout the morning. Shuttle buses will operate from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to take runners and others back to the start area, school parking lots and satellite locations.

Amy Anderson can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or aanderson@theforecaster.net. Follow her on Twitter: @amy_k_anderson.

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