CAPE ELIZABETH – After a summer of hot, sticky weather, the runners toeing the starting line at Saturday’s 13th annual TD Bank Beach to Beacon in Cape Elizabeth were treated to a cool dry morning, perfect running conditions.

And the elite runners certainly took advantage of those conditions, as the women’s course record was shattered by 26 seconds and the men’s race fell just 12 seconds short of a course record.

Kenya’s Lineth Chepkurui, who has been dominant on the road racing circuit this season, crossed the finish line by the Portland Head Light in Fort Williams Park in 30:59, shattering the old course record of 31:25 set in 2006 by Russia’s Alventina Ivanova.

In fact, Ivanova’s record was broken twice on Saturday, as runner-up Wude Ayalew of Ethiopia finished in 31:07, a time that would have been good enough to win most years, but not in a year when Chepkurui became the first woman to ever run a sub-31:00 10K in Maine.

On the men’s side, while the course record of 27:28, set by Kenya’s Gilbert Okari in 2003 stayed intact, the huge throng of spectators at the finish line were treated to a sprint to the finish as Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia, who entered Fort Williams in third place, blew past Alan Kiprono of Kenya and Wilson Chebet, also of Kenya to win the race in 27:40.

Kenya’s Ed Muge, who was seeking his third straight title, came up short in his quest, finishing fifth overall. However, his time of 28:08 was just three seconds slower than his winning pace from 2009.

While the major attention was focused on the elite runners in the field, the race attracted thousands of Maine runners as well.

Pete Bottomley of Cape Elizabeth has run all 13 races and he said he looks forward to each race. He added that he gets a great deal of encouragement from his friends and neighbors in the hometown crowd. “It’s a blast,” he said. “I’ve run this race every (year) and I hear ‘go, Mr. Bottomley go,’ or ‘go Pete,’ it’s great.”

As an experienced veteran of the Beach to Beacon, Bottomley, who finished with a time of 34:51, good for 105th overall, said he was pleased with the conditions on race day. “It was perfect, magnificent weather,” he said, adding that he ran a very consistent pace. “I ran really even splits, which is tricky-I’ve never really done that before, I’ve always gone out too fast.”

Sporting bright, multicolored nail polish for the occasion, Scarborough’s Erica Jesseman said she had a good time on Saturday. “It felt really strong throughout most of it. I was really happy how it went,” she said.

Jesseman, who runs for the University of New Hampshire, finished the race in 35:45, good for 133d overall and the third Maine woman to finish the race, was pleased with her pace on Saturday, “It couldn’t have gone better,” she said.

Gorham’s Nicholas Wheeler, who finished in 32:31, said that the cool, dry weather made the race much more enjoyable than it would have been had it been hot and humid. “I had a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s perfect conditions (for running), you couldn’t ask for better weather because the summer’s been so warm.”

As for the elite runners, after the race Gebremariam said that he was looking to set the course record and was on a good fast pace in the first half of the race, but that slowed a bit in the second half. He said that when he entered the park, he was in third place, but just strides behind the leaders, allowing him to put on his finishing kick to pull out the win.

Chepkurui and Ayalew were part of a small group of women that got out to a fast start in the race, even pushing right behind the pack of elite men leading the race. She said the fast start was a strategy she wanted to use to put some distance between her and the rest of the women’s field. “Staying just behind the elite men it (forces) us to push a bit harder,” Chepkurui said. “We were trying to use the men’s pace to stay ahead of the elite women.”

Ben True, a former Mainer now living and training in Oregon, was the first American to cross the finish line, coming in 12th overall in 29:01.

The Maine women’s race was a close one, as friends and running partners Sheri Piers of Falmouth and Kristin Barry of Scarborough crossed the finish line holding hands, with Barry taking the Maine women’s title by less than a second. 34:34.9 to 34:35.2.

Patrick Tarpy of Yarmouth won the Maine men’s title with a time of 29:28. Tarpy led the Maine men’s race from wire to wire, crossing the line a minute faster than runner-up Phil Richert of Bar Harbor, who finished in 30:28. Westbrook’s Robert Gomez was the third Maine man to finish, crossing the line in 31:05.

Jeanne Hackett of Scarborough won the women’s seniors title with a time of 39:48.

Race President David Weatherbie of Cape Elizabeth, who finished 130th with a time of 35:41, said he was extremely happy with how the day went, adding that the weather played a huge role in the success of the race. “We had an incredibly deep field of elite athletes and they really put on a show, but they weren’t alone,” Weatherbie said. “We also had 20 Maine men who ran sub-33 minutes, which is a prime example of the depth and quality of this year’s race from top to bottom. The best weather in 11 years really brought out the best for all involved.”