The Satterfield family, from left, Suzie, Joe, Carly and Grady, pose for a photo after a recent race. Photo provided by Suzie Satterfield

BOWDOINHAM — For months, runners across Maine have had the TD Beach to Beacon 10K circled on their kitchen calendars. For the Satterfield family of Bowdoinham, this Saturday is marked on all their calendars.

The annual 6.2-mile long road race along the Cape Elizabeth shore is as much a family tradition for Joe, Suzie, Grady and Carly as is any other occasion.

“It’s a milestone in the summer for us,” Joe, 47, said. “We look forward to it.”

The Satterfields have had a representative in the race each year since 2016, and after this year’s running, there will be 23 Beach to Beacon race bibs pinned to the family’s name. Last year, the four of them completed the 10K as a family for the first time.

“We’re all at different stages in our running careers, so I don’t think we’ve ever really been super competitive,” said Grady, a rising junior on the Providence College cross country and track teams. “Whenever we race, it’s just about being proud of whatever everyone else is doing and seeing that people are getting the most out of themselves rather than competing against each other.”

Suzie, 46, was first introduced to the Beach to Beacon by her uncle, Jim Toulouse, in 2000, when participants could still register a few weeks beforehand. She ran in two more races, including once in the early stages of pregnancy with her first child, before taking a break from competitive running. However, Suzie never stopped running.

The sport carried onto Grady, now 20, and the two would go on runs together. But by the time Grady was 9, he was running at paces faster than Suzie was comfortable with, so Joe was enlisted to run alongside him. This forced Joe to become a consistent runner for the first time since leaving the Navy, and eventually, he caught the distance running bug.

In the decade since he started racing competitively, Joe has run the Chicago Marathon, the Boston Marathon twice, won the male masters division at the Maine Marathon twice, including a 2nd place overall finish in 2023, and won the masters division at the 2023 Beach to Beacon by nearly a minute.

Carly, a rising senior at Mt. Ararat, prefers the field events like pole vault, shot put and discus, but still enjoys the camaraderie of running with friends and family. This year marks her third time running the 10K.

After being the second Maine male finisher in the 2023 Beach to Beacon, Grady will not run in Saturday’s race, instead opting to cheer his family from the sidelines, as he prepares for the upcoming NCAA cross country season. Grady mentioned that he “burned out a little bit” towards the end of last season, which he attributes to exerting too much energy in the August race.

“He owes Providence College, just a little bit,” Suzie joked.

Joe will be striving for another top time, while Suzie and Carly will be running for pride and enjoyment of the course.

The forecast for Saturday morning is high humidity with a chance of showers, but the Satterfields are still ready for a day full of excitement.

“There’s so many people there,” Suzie said. “Everybody’s proud of everybody. It’s just a really fun event, for sure. The people of Cape Elizabeth are very supportive.”

Added Joe: “The Midcoast running community has been around for quite some time and there are a lot of people in the Brunswick area that have done a lot of amazing things in the world of running, like Robert Ashby and Andy Spaulding of Freeport (both members of the Maine Running Hall of Fame). So while we’re one family, it’s a larger family that has a lot of talent around here.”