CAPE ELIZABETH — Tony Nogueira captured his 10th victory Saturday in the men’s wheelchair race at the TD Beach to Beacon 10K, and Christina Kouros of Cape Elizabeth claimed her fifth title in the women’s wheelchair division.

Nogueira, of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, won easily over Hermin Garic, 26, of Utica, New York, with a time of 22 minutes, 45 seconds. Garic finished in 24:09.

Nogueira, 48, said he may be getting faster than when he started racing more than 20 years ago.

Nogueira competed in the 1992 Paralympic Games in Barcelona and the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games. Since becoming a high school art teacher in New York City in 2000, he has more time to race in the summer.

“My job now allows me to take summers off and race,” he said. “I’ve done 10 races so far this summer. I’ve raced in Minnesota, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Virginia.”

The two men were the only racers in the men’s wheelchair division, but Garic said Nogueira still pushed the pace.

“Tony knows the course like the back of his hand. His experience is very important. It gives him an edge,” Garic said.

Kouros, the lone woman in the wheelchair division, pushed the last mile of the course up the hills of Shore Road faster than ever before. Her time of 38:19 topped her previous Beach to Beacon best by more than a minute.

A student at the University of Maine at Farmington, Kouros trains on Route 77 and Shore Road in the summer when she’s home in Cape Elizabeth.

She said she might compete in the Falmouth Road Race on Cape Cod for the first time this summer.

“Usually Falmouth has more women (wheelchair racers) in it,” Kouros said. “Everyone is really close in the wheelchair community. And they want more competition down there.”

SHERI PIERS of Falmouth won her fifth women’s masters title after finishing second among all Maine women in 36:01. She has twice won the Maine women’s division.

The 45-year-old Piers said her times are getting slower, but she enjoyed the early start this year for the elite women – with the masters women starting alongside the elites. As the race went on, the elite women pulled away and Piers found herself running alone. She just focused on the training runs she has done on the course this summer.

“I just pretended I was doing a workout with my training partner. We come here three to four times a week,” Piers said. “I love this race, but it’s getting harder. It’s more painful. I used to go out in a 5:15 pace. Now I have to be happy with 36 minutes.”

JOSEPH EKUOM, 46, of Kingston, New York, won the men’s masters race by .05 seconds over Andy Spaulding, 45, of Freeport, even though Spaulding’s net time of 33:45 was slightly faster. Prize money is awarded on the basis of gun time, and Ekuom (33:47) crossed the finish line just ahead of Spaulding (33:47.5).

Spaulding, who won the Maine men’s division in 2001 and 2002, described chasing down Ekuom as they entered Fort Williams Park. But as he came upon Ekuom near the finish line, Ekuom prevailed.

“When I came into the park you can always sprint downhill with little consequence. So I let loose. I came all the way up on Joseph, but he was looking behind at me and held me off,” Spaulding said.

Ekuom, who has raced at Beach to Beacon four times and won the masters division in 2013, was thrilled.

“I tried to stay focused,” Ekuom said. “I liked being separate (from the women). Being separate was good. There was more space. I like this race. The people of Maine are so nice.”

ABOUT 40 RUNNERS were treated for heat-related issues in the medical tent, according to medical coordinator Chris Troyanos. Despite overcast skies and temperatures in the 70s, Troyanos said the race featured a “sneaky heat, with high humidity and a high dew point. Some runners were not aware (of the heat) going in.”

Several of the top American women were inspired by Ben True’s historic victory. True, a North Yarmouth native, became the first American to win Beach to Beacon.

“I think everyone certainly in Maine is such a super fan of Ben’s,” said Michelle Lilienthal, the top Maine woman who lives in Portland. “It’s just so awesome to see him doing well and coming back from disappointment at the (U.S. Olympic) trials. I feel like everyone in the U.S. is plugging for him.”

No American woman has won the race. Libbie Hickman (1998, 2000) and Shalane Flanagan (2014) finished second.

“I know that no American woman has ever won it so I’m real young and I hope to do that one year,” said Jordan Hasay, 24, who was seventh overall in her second Beach to Beacon. “I know Joanie (Samuelson, the race founder) would appreciate it. So that’s kind of my goal. I’ll keep coming back as long as they’ll have me, because I really love it.”

Three-time Olympian Craig Virgin (1976, 1980, 1984), a guest of the race, was asked if he could remember the last time two American men had finished first and second in a major road race.

“It has to be at least 20 years and I wouldn’t be surprised if you had to go back to the early 1980s,” said Virgin, who is the only U.S. man to win the world cross country championship.

This year’s Beach to Beacon charitable beneficiary was My Place Teen Center in Westbrook, which received a $30,000 donation from the TD Charitable Foundation. The after-school center services at-risk youth, offering hot meals, and academic and social supports. Several children who regularly attend My Place Teen Center assisted the race as volunteers, and one, Ashton Brown, 15, of Westbrook, ran the race.

Brown said he’s been using the Teen Center services for about a year, usually going every other day.

“I wanted to help give back to the Teen Center,” Brown said.

Brown finished his first 10K with a net time of 1:03:35, almost nine minutes faster than he expected. But when the incoming freshman goes out for track at Westbrook High, he’ll opt for shorter distances.

“The 100, the 200. I’m not a distance runner. I’m going to go back to what I’m good at,” Brown said.

Ben True relied on his extensive road-racing experience to pull away from William Malel Sitonik of Kenya, who was making his debut on the roads. On the track this spring, Sitonik ran 10,000 meters in 26 minutes, 54 seconds. That’s 47 seconds faster than True’s personal best for the same distance.

But, True said, a track race is all rhythm. A road race is different.

“With all the uphills and downhills and turns, it’s much more broken up and you have to keep changing your pace,” he said. “If you’re not used to that much changing of pace and effort, then I guess it could wear on you a little bit more.”

After overseeing the 19th edition of the race she founded in 1998, Joan Benoit Samuelson barely gets a breather. She’s heading to Rio later this week to be at Sunday’s Olympic women’s marathon and may stop in Los Angeles – site of her historic gold-medal performance in 1984 – for another appearance on her way back. The following weekend, she’ll toe the line in Cape Cod to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her first victory at the Falmouth Road Race.

– Deirdre Fleming, Kevin Thomas, Steve Craig and Glenn Jordan contributed to this report.