The memories we have of 2020 come mostly as reminders of what we have missed during this pandemic-stricken year: the people, places, and races alike – but mostly the people.

Feelings of loss have encircled the globe these past 10 months, striking a deeply resonant chord that animates a resolve to rejoin those same people, places, and races in the coming year(s) once vaccines have made it safe for us to gather again.

One of the casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic was August’s TD Beach to Beacon 10K in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, a race that 1984 Women’s Olympic Marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson began in her hometown in 1998. Recently, runners from across the country voted B2B as the No. 1 race in America of 10 miles or less, with July’s QC Times Bix 7 in Davenport, Iowa coming in second in the voting. The B2B also received BibRave’s Green Lion Award, recognizing running events that have integrated sustainable environmental practices into their race operations.

In that vein, I thought I would share a short film by our Cape Elizabeth, Maine friend Geoff Nickerson, which he produced for his childhood friend, Matt Russ, an artist with a similar environmental bent as Joanie. Geoff is the son of Bill & Linda Nickerson, who have been our TD Beach to Beacon 10K host family for 20 years each August. 

Geoff’s film captures the beauty of the Maine coastline and Islands and showcases his friend Matt’s Project 2020, an artist’s journey on the Maine Island Trail. The music was composed by Tyler Redmond, another lifelong friend of Geoff’s and Matt’s. The boat that transported them on their journey was the Maddy B, originally owned by Matt’s grandparents.

Geoff’s film reinforced our own drive to return to Maine’s rocky shores in 2021, just as we hope to see the red brick-face of Boston, the steep slope of the Brady Street hill in Davenport, Iowa, the gently lapping beaches of Hawaii, and all the other places and people that make up the sport we love.

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