enlarge Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

They're off, the first wave of runners leaving the starting line Saturday for the 11th running of the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth. There was a total of 5,248 finishers in the race, won by Ed Muge of Kenya.

enlarge Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

The hard part is done. They've covered the 10 kilometers along the coast in Cape Elizabeth. All that's left is to turn in their timing chips and get some well-deserved refreshments.

enlarge Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

They call it the Kids Fun Run, but many of these runners in the 5-6 age group section of the race are all business as they leave the starting line Saturday at Fort Williams.

CAPE ELIZABETH — Norm Larson of Burlington, Vt., led nearly wire to wire to capture the top prize of $500 in the men's senior division Saturday at the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 10K.

The race within a race pitted the nation's top five runners in the 50-and-over age group.

"Dave Cannon took off and led the first mile, and then I caught him and I was in the lead," Larson said.

Less than 2 miles into the race, Cannon pulled up and stopped running for a few moments because of a sore hamstring.

"I didn't look behind," Larson said. "Rule No. 1 -- never look behind. These guys can smell fear, so that wouldn't be pretty."

Larson, 52, covered the 6.2-mile course in 33 minutes, 52 seconds.

Tom Ryan, 52, of Cape Elizabeth, finished second with a time of 35:04.

"(Larson) never broke," Ryan said. "I thought he might come back to me at 6 miles and he didn't. He's strong."

Cannon, 52, of Seattle, finished third in 35:37.4.

DAN FRANEK, 42, picked up $1,000 for winning the men's masters title for runners 40-49.

"I've been shooting for the masters (title) for the past three years," said Franek, who finished in 32:56. "I think I need the money more than most. I'm a teacher."

Franek, who lives in South Portland, teaches horticultural science at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. He runs the oceanside course at least once a week as part of his training regimen.

Franek also won the Maine masters title for the second consecutive year.

"I went out in 5 minutes for the first mile, which is comfortable (for me)," he said. "I lost the other masters competitors at about the 4-mile mark. I started to push it a little."

PORTLAND SYMPHONY Orchestra maestro Robert Moody felt at home running in his first Beach to Beacon.

"There was a keyboard player and a bass player playing jazz at about the 4-mile mark, but I didn't stop to conduct," he said.

Moody finished in 54:44, far off his 10K personal-best time of 49:51 in a race at Phoenix.

"This was a great run," he said. "It's much hillier than the course I ran in Arizona."

THREE GENERATIONS of the Filliter family ran in the race. Barbara Filliter, the 80-year-old matriarch of the family from Peterborough, Ontario, finished in 2:01:57.

She was followed across the finish line 2 seconds later by Sarah Filliter, her daughter-in-law from North Yarmouth.

Claire Tusz, her 12-year-old granddaughter from Huntsville, Ontario, finished in 2:02:00.

Daughters Joan Filliter of Orillia, Ontario, and Gail Tusz also ran in the race.

WANT TO know why turtles can't run fast? Their elbows keep hitting their shells.

That's Ryan Fenton's story, and he's sticking to it.

Four of pop culture's Ninja Turtles -- Donatello, Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo -- ran in Saturday's race, although Leonardo was a no-show at the finish line.

"He stayed behind to defend and protect," said Fenton, or rather, Donatello.

Running as cartoon characters has become a Beach to Beacon tradition for Fenton, who went to Cheverus High, Mike Downing of Gorham, Patrick Wales-Dinan of Wells and Mike Lansing, who attended Fryeburg Academy. Last year, each was Superman.

"The capes kind of got in the way," said Downing, a Maine Marathon runner-up in 2006. He comes up with the characters and the appropriate costumes. The too-small boys' sweat pants, part of their Spiderman racing gear, made them too hot. They've also raced as Batman, with the Batmobile.

The turtle shells this year were foam and large enough to catch their swinging elbows as they ran. And their eye masks caught their sweat too well.

They do take the race seriously -- Fenton finished 26th overall last year -- but not too seriously. Laughter can carry them a long way.

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