Age: 24

High School: Biddeford High School - Biddeford, Maine

College: University of Maine

PRs: 5k = 14:22 - 10k = 30:40 - 15k = 47:35

Career Highlights: Winner of the Maine Men’s Division of the 2022 Beach to Beacon 10k. 11th place at the 2025 USATF-NE Grand Prix 15k Championship

My name is Sam Mills, and I run for the Maine Distance Project.

I am from Biddeford, Maine, and I ran in college at the University of Maine. 

I loved running in college, it's where I learned what the levels of the sport look like. My college coach, Mark Lech, really took the time to figure out what made me click. I think a big reason why I loved running so much was because I loved running for him. And, of course, because I loved training with my teammates everyday. I had older teammates that really instilled what training competitively meant especially as a mindset. 

For as long as I’ve been running I’ve known that I want to race the marathon. In college I raced the 5k, but almost all of my training was done with the marathon in mind. I wanted to tackle that distance young, and keep at it for as long as I could. 

Kelton and I have been talking about this team for as long as we’ve known each other. Portland, Maine, and the marathon have always been at the center. I am so stoked that that time has come. 

I’ve been deeply involved in the Maine running community for as long as I’ve had the chance, volunteering, working with A Running Passion, and running for the local club Dirigo. I make most of my choices based on the example set by all the great runners, who were great people that came before me, especially Will Fulford and Rob Gomez. 

One of my hero’s, Kenny Flanders, who was one of the first great Maine runners of the modern era, left Boston post-collegiately to come back to train in Portland. His desire to train in Maine at that level is similar to what MDP is doing now, and the support from Kelton and Steady State changes everything.

I have no hobbies. 

My goals are to race as often as possible, train as many miles as possible and be a person anyone could go for a jog with. 

Articles:

UMaine’s Sam Mills cruises to title as top Mainer at Beach to Beacon

Interviews:

'It was one of the best feelings of my life': Beach to Beacon 10K returns