Falmouth Road Race

The CIGNA,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.

History

The race was the idea of Tommy Leonard, an avid runner and popular bartender in Boston and Falmouth. During the 1972 Summer Olympics 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 CIGNA 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. Four runners, Mike Bennett, 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 Light, 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 CIGNA 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.  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 miles.

CIGNA, a health services company based in Philadelphia, became the title sponsor of the race in 2006.

Past winners

Key: Course record

Edition Year Men's winner Time (m:s) Women's winner Time (m:s)

37th 2009 Tilahun Regassa (ETH) 31:41 Mamitu Daska (ETH) 36:23

36th 2008 Tadese Tola (ETH) 32:01 Edith Masai (KEN) 37:02

35th 2007 Micah Kipkemboi Kogo (KEN) 31:53 Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 36:31

34th 2006 Gilbert Okari (KEN) 31:53 Alevtina Ivanova (RUS) 35:43

33rd 2005 Gilbert Okari (KEN) 31:59 Lornah Kiplagat (NED) 36:13

32nd 2004 Gilbert Okari (KEN) 31:08 Alevtina Ivanova (RUS) 36:13

31st 2003 John Kipsang Korir (KEN) 31:59 Jennifer Rhines (USA) 37:08

30th 2002 James Koskei (KEN) 32:10 Lornah Kiplagat (KEN) 35:13

29th 2001 John Kipsang Korir (KEN) 32:26 Lornah Kiplagat (KEN) 36:26

28th 2000 Mark Yatich (KEN) 31:43 Lornah Kiplagat (KEN) 35:02

27th 1999 John Kipsang Korir (KEN) 32:06 Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 36:32

26th 1998 Khalid Khannouchi (MAR) 31:48 Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 36:10

25th 1997 Khalid Khannouchi (MAR) 31:58 Colleen De Reuck (USA) 36:19

24th 1996 Joseph Kimani (KEN) 31:36 Catherine Ndereba (KEN) 35:37

23rd 1995 Joseph Kamau (KEN) 32:10 Delilah Asiago (KEN) 36:23

22nd 1994 Benson Masya (KEN) 31:59 Laura Mykytok (USA) 37:01

21st 1993 Simon Karori (KEN) 32:30 Colleen De Reuck (USA) 36:42

20th 1992 Benson Masya (KEN) 31:52 Lynn Jennings (USA) 36:13

19th 1991 Steve Kogo (KEN) 32:14 Sabrina Dornhoefer (USA) 37:32

18th 1990 Salvatore Bettiol (ITA) 32:55 Aurora Cunha (POR) 36:39

17th 1989 Salvatore Bettiol (ITA) 32:14 Aurora Cunha (POR) 36:21

16th 1988 Mark Curp (USA) 32:22 Anne Hannam (NZL) 36:36

15th 1987 Rolando Vera (ECU) 32:19 Aurora Cunha (POR) 36:59

14th 1986 Arturo Barrios (MEX) 32:17 Lorraine Moller (NZL) 36:54

13th 1985 David Murphy (USA) 32:02.3 Joan Benoit (USA) 36:17.7

12th 1984 David Murphy (USA) 32:17 Joan Nesbit (USA) 37:00

11th 1983 Joseph Nzau (KEN) 32:20 Joan Benoit (USA) 36:21

10th 1982 Alberto Salazar (USA) 31:53.3 Joan Benoit (USA) 36:33.7

9th 1981 Alberto Salazar (USA) 31:55.6 Joan Benoit (USA) 38:15.5

8th 1980 Rod Dixon (NZL) 32:20.4 Grete Waitz (NOR) 37:12.3

7th 1979 Craig Virgin (USA) 32:19.7 Ellison Goodall (USA) 38:16

6th 1978 Bill Rodgers (USA) 32:21 Joan Benoit (USA) 39:07

5th 1977 Bill Rodgers (USA) 32:23 Kim Merritt (USA) 38:40

4th 1976 Frank Shorter (USA) 33:14 Joan Benoit (USA) 43:08

3rd 1975 Frank Shorter (USA) 33:24 Jennifer Tuthill (USA) 44:23

2nd 1974 Bill Rodgers (USA) 34:16 Debbie Richie (USA) 44:31

1st 1973 Dave Duba (USA) 39:16 Jennifer Tuthill (USA) 47:23

(source:wikipedia)