The Beach to Beacon race brings in more than 15,000 people into Cape Elizabeth from more than 20 countries and 40 states. Though the town’s population doubles for the day, town employees and local business owners hardly have to change their routine to accommodate the 10-year-old tradition.

“It’s an annual drill we go through,” said Bob Malley, public works director about preparing for the 10K road race that takes place Saturday.

The race starts at 8 a.m. on Route 77 near Crescent Beach. From there, 5,500 runners will run 6.2 miles to Portland Headlight at Fort Williams Park. In celebration of the race’s 10-year anniversary, each runner will receive a commemorative medal. In addition, the runners that have participated every year will be acknowledged at the awards ceremony where monetary prizes will be given to the fastest runners.

Malley said his department is responsible for sweeping the streets, trimming hanging limbs, filling potholes and putting up signs – nothing out of the ordinary for public works. Due to the efficiency of Dave McGillivray Sports Enterprise Inc., the event management company that runs the race, Malley said, there is not a lot of preparation or clean-up necessary for the town.

“By 2 or 3 o’clock, you wouldn’t even know there was a race here,” he said.

In addition, some 750 volunteers, led by Maya Cohen of Cape Elizabeth, compile registration packets, hand them out to participants and station themselves at every mile marker handing out water to the runners.

Cohen said the volunteers are a pleasure to work with and the operation runs smoothly, but not always easily.

“Every year, we try to do something new,” Cohen said. “It’s still a challenge.” This year, volunteers are being honored with a special dinner to congratulate them on their 10 years of hard work.

Police Chief Neil Williams said the town takes notes every year about what works well and what doesn’t. He said they start meeting in February to discuss what needs to change. For example, this year Scott Dyer Road will be closed from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. to make it easier for buses shuttling runners to get to the starting line. Sixty police and fire police officers from Cape Elizabeth and Scarborough will be on duty, directing traffic and providing security services for the event.

Race Director Dave McGillivray, president of the event management company and director of the Boston Marathon, compared managing the race to running in it.

“There’s no easy way out,” he said.

Though McGillivray called the job labor intensive, he said there haven’t been any bumps in the road and he doesn’t predict there will be. However, there is always one variable that is hard to be completely prepared for.

“It all boils down to that thing which we cannot control, and that is the weather,” he said. As of Tuesday, the National Weather Service predicted weather would be partly cloudy with a high temperature near 76 degrees.

But now, with volunteers who have worked the race for a whole decade, he said, “most of us involved have done this in all conditions.”

On Monday, McGillivray said he was finishing up paperwork and packing up trucks with fencing, tents and traffic cones, among other things, that were scheduled to start being set up on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, business owners in Cape Elizabeth have been going along as usual, not expecting much of a surge in sales over the weekend.

Mark Pendaris, owner of Kettle Cove Take-out and Dairy Bar, said he isn’t stocking up on extra ice cream for the event.

“I’ll probably mow my lawn,” he said of his preparations.

Pendaris plans on watching the race from his store on Route 77 and putting out a free pot of coffee for people who are standing in the area.

“It’s a nice thing to happen every year,” he said.

Farther down Route 77, Mary Page, owner of Rudy’s of the Cape, said she will be outside with bells and whistles to show her support.

She used to hold a buffet after the race, but never got enough customers to keep it going.

“People are literally just running by,” she said.

Town takes Beach to Beacon in strideTown takes Beach to Beacon in stride