Falmouth Road Race
Encyclopedia
The Falmouth Road Race is an annual 7-mile road race on Cape Cod
from Woods Hole, a village in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts
, to Falmouth Heights.
Leonard closed his bar in order to watch Frank Shorter
win the first Olympic
marathon
for the United States since 1908. After Shorter won the marathon Leonard was quoted as saying "Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could get Frank Shorter to run in a race on Cape Cod?" One year later, in the summer of 1973, with the help of a local high school track
coach John Carroll, and the towns recreation director Rich Sherman, the first Falmouth Road Race was run by approximately 100 people. The next year there were 445 runners, and the year after that Frank Shorter joined 850 other runners in the race, bringing Leonard's wish true. Today the New Balance Falmouth Road Race is considered one of the best non-marathon races in the country, if not the world, attracting over 10,000 runners each year. The field of runners typically includes many of the best American and international runners, including both past and future Olympic athletes.
, along a hot beach on Martha's Vineyard Sound, and past the charming estates of Belvidere Plains, before turning inland toward the center of Falmouth town, finally looping back to the shore route for one last quarter-mile hill that crests just before the finish.
Before 2006, promotional materials usually described the New Balance Falmouth Road Race as a 7.1-mile event. It is now billed as a 7-miler. By 2003 storms and road repairs had made minor changes to the route, and a new USATF-certified course measurement was taken. http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/certification/measurement_news/MN121Sept03.pdf This showed the course to be a hair short of 7 miles. In 2005 the organizers extended the finish line slightly to bring it close to the traditional course length. But the following year they moved it back again, for an exact 7.0 miles.
New Balance
, a clothing and apparel company, became the title sponsor of the race in 2011.
Cape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
from Woods Hole, a village in the town of Falmouth, Massachusetts
Falmouth, Massachusetts
Falmouth is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States; Barnstable County is coextensive with Cape Cod. The population was 31,531 at the 2010 census....
, to Falmouth Heights.
History
The race was the idea of Tommy Leonard, an avid runner and popular bartender in Boston and Falmouth. During the 1972 Summer Olympics1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
Leonard closed his bar in order to watch Frank Shorter
Frank Shorter
Frank Charles Shorter is a former American long-distance runner who won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics. His victory is credited with igniting the running boom in the United States of the 1970s....
win the first Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
for the United States since 1908. After Shorter won the marathon Leonard was quoted as saying "Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could get Frank Shorter to run in a race on Cape Cod?" One year later, in the summer of 1973, with the help of a local high school track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
coach John Carroll, and the towns recreation director Rich Sherman, the first Falmouth Road Race was run by approximately 100 people. The next year there were 445 runners, and the year after that Frank Shorter joined 850 other runners in the race, bringing Leonard's wish true. Today the New Balance Falmouth Road Race is considered one of the best non-marathon races in the country, if not the world, attracting over 10,000 runners each year. The field of runners typically includes many of the best American and international runners, including both past and future Olympic athletes.
Entry
The race is oversubscribed, meaning far more people apply for places than can be accommodated in the race. The application period is a usually a short window of time during the first half of May. (In 2005 applications could be made by internet; in 2006 the race reverted to mail-in applications.) A number of places are specially reserved for Falmouth residents. Five runners, Mike Bennett, Tom Brannelly, Don Delinks, Ron Pokraka, and Brian Salzberg, have officially completed every Falmouth Road Race.Course
The beginning of the course is extremely hilly, with a starting line by the Captain Kidd Restaurant & Bar in Woods Hole, and a finish by the Falmouth Heights beach (near the former site of The Brothers Four tavern, where Tommy Leonard tended bar in 1972-1973). From the start corral, one races up a gradually steepening incline and into a narrow wooded road, emerging onto a long curved coastal stretch that runs by Nobska LightNobska Light
Nobska Light, or Nobsque Light, also known as Nobska Point Light is a lighthouse located at the division between Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound in Woods Hole on the southwestern tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts....
, along a hot beach on Martha's Vineyard Sound, and past the charming estates of Belvidere Plains, before turning inland toward the center of Falmouth town, finally looping back to the shore route for one last quarter-mile hill that crests just before the finish.
Before 2006, promotional materials usually described the New Balance Falmouth Road Race as a 7.1-mile event. It is now billed as a 7-miler. By 2003 storms and road repairs had made minor changes to the route, and a new USATF-certified course measurement was taken. http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/certification/measurement_news/MN121Sept03.pdf This showed the course to be a hair short of 7 miles. In 2005 the organizers extended the finish line slightly to bring it close to the traditional course length. But the following year they moved it back again, for an exact 7.0 miles.
New Balance
New Balance
New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. , best known as simply New Balance, is a footwear manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. It was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company...
, a clothing and apparel company, became the title sponsor of the race in 2011.
Past winners
Key:| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time (m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... ) |
Women's winner | Time (m Minute A minute is a unit of measurement of time or of angle. The minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour or 60 seconds. In the UTC time scale, a minute on rare occasions has 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. The minute is not an SI unit; however, it is accepted for use with SI units... :s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... ) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39th | 2011 | 31:37 | 36:58 | ||
| 38th | 2010 | 32:20 | 35:46 | ||
| 37th | 2009 | 31:41 | 36:23 | ||
| 36th | 2008 | 32:01 | 37:02 | ||
| 35th | 2007 | 31:53 | 36:31 | ||
| 34th | 2006 | 31:53 | 35:43 | ||
| 33rd | 2005 | 31:59 | 36:13 | ||
| 32nd | 2004 | 31:08 | 36:13 | ||
| 31st | 2003 | 31:59 | 37:08 | ||
| 30th | 2002 | 32:10 | 35:13 | ||
| 29th | 2001 | 32:26 | 36:26 | ||
| 28th | 2000 | 31:43 | 35:02 | ||
| 27th | 1999 | 32:06 | 36:32 | ||
| 26th | 1998 | 31:48 | 36:10 | ||
| 25th | 1997 | 31:58 | 36:19 | ||
| 24th | 1996 | 31:36 | 35:37 | ||
| 23rd | 1995 | 32:10 | 36:23 | ||
| 22nd | 1994 | 31:59 | 37:01 | ||
| 21st | 1993 | 32:30 | 36:42 | ||
| 20th | 1992 | 31:52 | 36:13 | ||
| 19th | 1991 | 32:14 | 37:32 | ||
| 18th | 1990 | 32:55 | 36:39 | ||
| 17th | 1989 | 32:14 | 36:21 | ||
| 16th | 1988 | 32:22 | 36:36 | ||
| 15th | 1987 | 32:19 | 36:59 | ||
| 14th | 1986 | 32:17 | 36:54 | ||
| 13th | 1985 | 32:02.3 | 36:17.7 | ||
| 12th | 1984 | 32:17 | 37:00 | ||
| 11th | 1983 | 32:20 | 36:21 | ||
| 10th | 1982 | 31:53.3 | 36:33.7 | ||
| 9th | 1981 | 31:55.6 | 38:15.5 | ||
| 8th | 1980 | 32:20.4 | 37:12.3 | ||
| 7th | 1979 | 32:19.7 | 38:16 | ||
| 6th | 1978 | 32:21 | 39:07 | ||
| 5th | 1977 | 32:23 | 38:40 | ||
| 4th | 1976 | 33:14 | 43:08 | ||
| 3rd | 1975 | 33:24 | 44:23 | ||
| 2nd | 1974 | 34:16 | 44:31 | ||
| 1st | 1973 | 39:16 | 47:23 |