FALMOUTH ROAD RACE: RUNNERS HONOR THE EVENT'S LATE FOUNDER AND LOOK TO THE FUTURE
CAPE COD TIMES
FALMOUTH — From the start line next to Captain Kidd in Woods Hole to posters at each mile marker and displays on the bib numbers of each runner, New Balance Falmouth Road Race participants from around the world will be reminded of the event’s founder this weekend.
Over 46 years, race founder Tommy Leonard watched his creation start with 93 participants in the 1973 inaugural race and swell to the maximum of 12,800 entries for Sunday’s point-to-point race. It started as Leonard’s dream to bring 1972 Olympic marathon winner Frank Shorter to run in Falmouth. Shorter followed through in 1975, and since then the race has attracted world-class talent and gained major sponsorship, evolving into one of the most popular road races in the country.
Leonard died in January at age 85, making this year’s race the first without its founder.
“Obviously, I think we’re all going to feel something missing, something special,” Falmouth Road Race director Dave McGillivray said. “By doing some of the other things, and remembering his legacy and his joy and smile and positive attitude for the event, for the runners, for people in general, his spirit will remain.”
The starting line, which got a fresh coat of paint earlier this week, was renamed after Leonard in 2012. A plaque on the side of Captain Kidd has his face engraved. This year’s poster, which illustrates Leonard’s wavy hair and bushy eyebrows and mustache, will be all along the 7-mile course.
Leonard served as grand marshal in recent years, riding in a black convertible, but McGillivray said the grand marshal program will be retired for the near future until there is somebody worthy of such an honor.
McGillivray said there’s a delicate balance between honoring Leonard and ensuring this weekend’s participants and spectators carry on with an enjoyable experience. After all, Leonard once said the race was all about making friends and memories through running.
“We’re going to continue what Tommy started, which is put on one of the best road races in America,” McGillivray said. “Tommy would want it that way.”
Sunday’s weather forecast calls for a high of 79 degrees with humidity over 80%. As has been the case in recent years, the first gun for the 47th annual race goes off at 8 a.m. with the early start for qualified individuals.
The wheelchair division, which is celebrating its 45th year as part of the race, begins at 8:40 a.m. and features Daniel Romanchuk and Tatyana McFadden, U.S. Paralympians seeking their third straight Falmouth titles.
The women’s elite division begins at 8:50 a.m., followed by the men’s elite and open race at 9. For the first time since 2013, neither defending champion is in the men’s or women’s elite field. Ben Flanagan, the first Canadian man to win the event, is injured, and Caroline Chepkoech, who has won the last three women’s titles, is not returning.
On the men’s side, the door is open for Kenya’s Stephen Sambu, who won a record four straight titles from 2014-17, and Leonard Korir, who finished ahead of Sambu last year and almost won in 2017. Edward Cheserek, a 17-time NCAA champion at Oregon, was added to the race roster Tuesday and also could contend for the title. Scott Fauble, last year’s runner-up, and Korir have the best chances of becoming the first American male winner since 1989.
“It’s a huge thrill knowing that we could be welcoming a new face and story to the storied list of our champions,” said Matt Auger, race operations manager.
Des Linden, who was a featured guest and race starter in Falmouth last year after winning the 2018 Boston Marathon, will run competitively this year. “Her return feels like Falmouth is the type of race that true runners want to run, to conquer,” Auger said.
Fellow 36-year-old Californian Sara Hall, the U.S. champion at 10K, 10 miles and 20 miles, also is in the women’s field. So is Sharon Lokedi, a recent Kansas graduate from Kenya who won the 10K at the 2018 NCAA championships.
The competition actually begins at 5 p.m. Saturday with the Aetna Falmouth Elite Mile and the Tommy Cochary High School Mile at the Falmouth High School track.
Falmouth native Caleb Gartner, a student at Middlesex School in Concord, is the Cape’s first male representative since the high school event went from Cape-only to statewide in 2011. On the girls side, Natick’s Kate Connolly, whose sister Grace won the last two titles, will try to make it a Connolly three-peat.
Katie Mackey, the only three-time winner in the race’s history, and Tripp Hurt, the reigning USA Mile Road Champion, lead the Elite Mile fields.
Race weekend officially kicked off Thursday at Falmouth High School when runners got their first chance to pick up their race packets at the race expo. Number pick-up will continue from noon-8 p.m. today and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
The race expo is not only the best place to purchase merchandise and meet other runners, it also serves as a chance to meet and hear from notable people surrounding the event.
Last year, former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who has a charity team running, signed autographs. Linden did the same while also handing out bags.
This year, 2018 Falmouth men’s champion Ben Flanagan is among those scheduled to hand out bags and sign autographs. Joan Benoit Samuelson, the first Olympic marathon champion and six-time Falmouth champion, will do the same.
In addition, a pair of panel discussions — one celebrating the 45th anniversary of the road race’s wheelchair division and the other with past champions — will take place Saturday.
For those who didn’t get a race bib but want to participate, there’s the Falmouth Walk at 10 a.m. Saturday in downtown Falmouth, followed by the SBLI Family Fun Run at 4 p.m. on the high school track.
On Sunday, bus transportation from Lawrence School in Falmouth to the start line in Woods Hole will have a stricter policy after runners complained of significant delays, long walks to the start and missing the 9 a.m. start time last year.
Race officials modified their policy this year, with bus transportation beginning at 5:45 a.m. and the last bus leaving at 8 a.m. According to the race website, anybody getting in line after 7 a.m. is not guaranteed a spot on the bus.
“We, along with public safety, feel that we all have to follow the rules and show up early,” McGillivray said. “We’ll take it from there.”