Falmouth Road Race

  This past week I went on a wonderful vacation to Falmouth, Cape Cod. I spent as much time as possible outside enjoying the ocean breeze, our B & B was right next to the ocean, walking around seeing the sights, or lounging on the beach. Glorious! While there I noticed how many runners and cyclists there were. Every morning as we enjoyed our breakfast on the outside deck, we saw many people of all ages cruising up and down the hilly roads next to the ocean. The only other time I’ve seen so many runners, outside a race or organized run, was when I went to Boston the summer before. Maybe MA culture breeds avid runners, but my guess is that where there are old, established races – i.e. Boston Marathon and Falmouth Road Race – there are going to be runners.

I didn’t know much about the Falmouth Road Race before my visit there this past week, but couldn’t help but want to run it myself after learning more about this historic event. In 1972, After watching Frank Shorter become the first American to win the Olympic marathon since 1908, Cape Cod resident Tommy Leonard thought it would be great if Shorter were to run a race in Cape Cod. Thus the Falmouth Road Race was born. With 100 participants its first year, 1973, the race threads its way along the Cape Cod coast up and down hills for 7 miles. Now it has become known as one of the best non-marathon races in the country, if not the world, with 10,000 people gaining entry through a lottery system each year. And with the Olympics in full force, it’s even more impressive that the race has attracted many past and future Olympians, both American and international, through the years.

Lottery opens online in May. For more info check out the website.

Happy Running!