4,600 Beach to Beacon On-Line Entries Filled In A Snap

Online
Registration
for 2010 TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Fills Quickly
Saturday, New Lottery Phase
in Full Swing

 

Lottery
registration
ongoing for 1,500 remaining slots

 

CAPE
ELIZABETH, Maine (March 13, 2010)
‰ÛÓ Online registration
for the Aug. 7 TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road
Race quickly filled
Saturday morning, and those still hoping for a spot in the
race began
registering as part of a new lottery system.

Runners now have until midnight on Sunday, March
21 to register for one of the 1,500 remaining slots available through alottery,
which will be drawn on March 22. Runners can sign up for the lottery

at
the race website, www.beach2beacon.org.

Race organizers implemented a new,

three-phase
registration process for the 2010 race. The new format combined the
previous
first-come/first-serve only online process with a bib lottery system
and
an accommodation for runners in the host community of Cape Elizabeth as
well
as runners who have participated in each of the previous 12 races.

Cape
Elizabeth residents, given a 24-hour

window to fill 600 slots online,
reached the cap within 21 minutes on Friday
morning. The remaining
4,000 spaces were allotted to the general public
beginning at 8 a.m.
Saturday. By 8:32 a.m., all 4,000 slots had been filled and
the
traditional phase of online registration ended. Race organizers planned
to
notify persons who got into the race by e-mail Saturday afternoon
and post their
names at the race website by Monday afternoon. Those
who did not get in were
re-directed to the lottery registration
process.

Lottery entrants are limited to one online

entry,
but can include up to two registrants in that entry. Entrants will be
charged
a per-registrant lottery fee of $5. The lottery drawing will occur on
Monday,
March 22. Runners who get into the race via the lottery will be
notified
by e-mail and their names will be posted on the race website on March
22.

Race
beneficiaries, sponsors, elite athletes

and runners who have taken
part in all 12 past races will register online
beginning March 23.

Race organizers will accept 7,000

registrations
in all, again targeting a race day field of 6,000. The race has
doubled
in size since it debuted in 1998 with a race day field of 3,000.

The new process was developed
after all 6,840

entrants in the 2009 race were sent an e-mail
inviting them to take part in a
survey.  Race organizers also
received input from the community and
persons visiting the website in
August were also invited to participate in the
survey.

The

TD Bank Beach to Beacon is one
of Maine’s premiere sporting events and
one of the most popular
events on the U.S. road race circuit. The race draws
runners from
throughout the region and the world to the picturesque coastal
community
of Cape Elizabeth. Thousands of spectators cheer on the runners along
the
scenic course and at the finish, and more than 800 volunteers help
ensure a
smooth operation.

The

race begins near the Crescent
Beach entrance on Route 77 in Cape Elizabeth,
winds past breathtaking
ocean vistas, and ends in Fort Williams Park at the
historic
Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in the world.

More than
$60,000 in prize money is awarded

to the top finishers and place
winners in the various categories for men and
women. For more
information, visit www.beach2beacon.org.

TD

Bank is the title sponsor of
the race founded by Olympic gold medalist Joan
Benoit Samuelson,
regarded as Maine’s most admired athlete. The
beneficiary of this
year’s race is Junior Achievement of Maine,
Inc.  (JA) (http://maine.ja.org), a
non-profit
organization providing economic education programs that help inspire
Maine
children to develop the skills, attitudes and behaviors of success in a
global
economy. Offered in more than 100 schools across the state, JA programs
reached
almost 9,000 Maine students in 2009.TD Bank, through the TD Charitable

Foundation,
will provide a cash donation of $30,000 to JA of Maine. The
organization
also will benefit from fundraising activities and publicity
through
its association with one of Maine’s premiere sporting events

About

the
TD Charitable Foundation

The

TD
Charitable Foundation is the charitable giving arm of TD Bank N.A.,
which
operates as TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank^å¨,
and
is one of the 15 largest commercial banking organizations in the
United States.
The Foundation’s mission is to serve the individuals,
families and businesses
in all the communities where TD Bank
operates, having made over $56 million in
charitable donations since
its inception in 2002. The efforts of the Foundation
are coordinated
locally through TD Bank’s community relations departments and
are
focused on the areas of affordable housing, education and financial
literacy,
and the environment. More information on the TD Charitable
Foundation,
including an online grant application, is available at www.TDBank.com.

 

About
TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank^å¨

TD
Bank,
America’s Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 15 largest commercial
banks
in the United States with $152 billion in assets, and provides
customers with a
full range of financial products and services at
more than 1,000 convenient
locations from Maine to Florida. TD Bank,
N.A., is headquartered in Cherry
Hill, N.J., and Portland, Maine. TD
Bank is a trade name of TD Bank, N.A. For
more information, visit www.tdbank.com.
 

TD
Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Financial
Group
of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company in
North America and
one of the few banks in the world rated Aaa by
Moody’s.