Tag: New Balance Falmouth Road Race

2018 FALMOUTH PHOTO ESSAY

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Little late, I know, but here’s a look back from the lead men’s press truck at last Sunday’s 46th New Balance Falmouth Road Race.

 

The calm before the storm in Woods Hole
A gray summer’s day for those heading to Martha’s Vineyard. 64F at the start.
Thus it begins
Great Britain’s Chris Thompson leads the way coming off 11th in the 10,000 & 9th in the 5000 at the European Championships in Berlin.
Chris Thompson, leads 2x Falmouth runner up Leonard Korir, Northern Arizona Elite’s Scott Fauble and US Army WCAP’s Haron Lagat in a strong early push.
Scotland’s Callum Hawkins (white over red) shows early interest, coming off 7th place at the TD Beach to Beacon 10k two weeks ago in Maine. Took 9th at the 2016 Olympic Marathon, 4th last year at the World Champs in London.
No damage to the pack after a 4:34 opening mile. But 4x defender Stephen Sambu in black enters the picture.
Sambu is the only 4x men’s winner in Falmouth history, and came in off a second place finish at the TD B2B 10k two weeks before. WCAP’s Haron Lagat in white and ZAP Fitness man Andrew Colley in blue on the left both have shown good form this summer.
Cheering fans help the runners through the first three miles of rolling hills.
As the course rolls down out of the tree cover, Sambu presses, passing three miles in 13:58 (4:40 3rd mile, off a 4:44 2nd). University of Michigan star Ben Flanagan falls in with WCAP’s Korir and Lagat, Colley and Fauble.
12 strong hit the flats as the boys roam the coast along Vineyard Sound. Callum Hawkins leaking off the back. Chris Thompson and GBR’s Ross Millington (yellow #9) still holding.
Four miles fall in 18:36 (4:37) as a steady headwind negates the clement 66F temperature. 10 still remain.
A well defined lead pack now separates, led by defending champ Stephen Sambu. Today’s splits right in line with the last three years when the winning time ranged from 32:10 to 32:17.
Chris Thompson (far left) finally gives way between 4-5 miles. This is the traditional place on the course when the finalists are determined. Philadelphia Med school student Martin Hehir (yellow on left) well positioned coming off 8th place at July 4ths AJC Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. Colley in blue on the right took 6th there. 
Still 10 strong turning off the water and heading through the neighborhood section of the course.
Sambu still in front at 5 miles – 23:14 (4:38) – as the men begin picking through remnants of the pro women’s field.
The final six take a left and head toward Falmouth Harbor, Left to right: Martin Hehir, Ben Flanagan, Stephen Sambu, Haron Lagat, Leonard Korir, Scott Fauble. Toughest part of the course, too far out to smell the barn, but five-plus miles in and hurting.
Sambu had established a good lead by the time he reached Falmouth Marine in each of the last four years, but he’s a little under-raced this summer as he heads toward the Chicago Marathon in October.
With Falmouth Harbor off their right shoulder, the final six take one another’s measure. NCAA 10,000m champion Ben Flanagan took 2nd at the Bix 7 in Iowa after placing third at the Canadian Nationals at 5000m and winning a road mile in Ann Arbor. He’s the man with the speed.
Six miles in 27:52, 10k in 28:49, no records today, but we’ve never seen six men still together this late in the race. And the crowd drives them even harder toward home.
And it’s the rookie, The Wolverine, Ben Flanagan, flashing his heels and romping to the tape with a giant smile creasing his face. NAE’s Scott Fauble a breakthrough in second. Leonard Korir on the podium for the fourth straight year in third. Sambu relegated to fourth.
Happiest champion EVER!
Go Blue! Michigan Hugs all around.
Falmouth Road Race board member Scott Ghelfi and family hosted Ben during his stay in Falmouth. He just about lost his voice shouting out Ben’s win over the PA.
Saluting Canada’s first ever Falmouth champ.
And in they come, neatly 12,000 in all.
Just behind the finish line the Crow’s Nesters take in the action.
After his win, Ben heads to the Crow’s Nest to celebrate, while receiving a well-earned standing O.
Brad Hurst awards Ben his Crow’s Nest tee shirt, which, according to no less a source than Malmo himself, is Falmouth’s equivalent of the Masters green jacket.
2x Boston Marathon champion Geoff Smith hails a Commonwealth man’s win at Falmouth, a first since Dave Murphy’s double in 1984-‘85.
Kickin’ back, reliving the day. Many of the Crow’s Nest crowd raced against University of Michigan women’s coach Mike McGuire back in the day. Mac texted Ben the address and said go up and say hi.
Overlooking Falmouth Heights, a place Ben will long remember.

Thanks for coming along for the ride. See you next year.

 

END

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CELEBRATING TOMMY LEONARD’S 85TH BIRTHDAY

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As we come up upon the 46th New Balance Falmouth Road Race weekend, we also celebrate the 85th birthday of race founder Tommy Leonard. In honor of TL a light verse recalling that other great running institution associated with TL, Boston’s Eliot Lounge.  Happy birthday, TL.  See you soon.
Tommy Leonard his ownself

THE ELIOT

For this is where we runners met,
The bar we called our own,
Hard along the marathon course,
Just a half a mile from home,
*
On the corner of Mass. and Commonwealth Aves.,
In Boston’s old Back Bay,
Where we came to recover from training,
And put PRs on display.
*
With Tommy Leonard tending taps,
The guru in his lair,
Every runner’s true best friend,
With a heart big enough to share.
*
And Coach Squires in his corner,
The Wack in classic form,
Holding court, as usual,
Untranslatable being the norm.
*
With walls festooned with photos,
Of racers in their glory,
Posters, banners, flags, as well,
Each one with a telling story.
*
It’s where Rodgers came to drown a loss,
Or celebrate a record run,
And Joanie nipped with barracudas,
A champion, not a nun.
*
With footprints of the running stars,
Pressed out front in wet cement,
Course Tommy mixed the formula wrong,
So the prints didn’t quite indent.
*
And remember the night the horse clopped in,
Or the Stanford marching band,
And Heidi singing in those tight blue jeans,
They and the joint absolutely crammed.
*
‘Twas a clubhouse for every iconoclast,
Be they runner, writer, or pol,
And while few considered themselves joiners,
To the Eliot they came one and all,
*
When running meant more than fitness alone,
Or a bucket–list item for the masses,
But instead formed a band of close brothers,
Before our youth and speed finally passed us.
*
Yes, those days are fondly remembered,
When the lines did snake around the block,
But we knew the secret back entrance,
Sometimes I wish we could turn back the clock.
*
When time was the measure of excellence,
And Greater Boston the club above all,
When speed was the currency in issue,
But a good time was at night at Fall Call.
*
Still, if running has taught us any lesson,
It’s that time stands still for no man,
No matter how hard we might wish it,
‘Tis the future we must look to and plan.
*
Knowing our memories still carry,
Those times that were ours once alone,
When speed and endurance were in abundance,
And we called the Eliot our home.
*
Sadly, its doors had to shutter,
After the hundredth Marathon was through,
But the friendships we made there still linger,
How fortunate, how lucky, we few,
*
Who experienced the sport when it was booming,
When its flower was still in first bloom,
When Tommy was our lovable guru,
And the Eliot our nurturing womb.
*
So thanks to all who have joined us,
To salute Tommy on his 85 years,
But just consider the man’s constitution,
Good God, it should bring us all to tears.
END

NB FALMOUTH ROAD RACE WEEKEND 2017 GEARS UP

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Falmouth, MA. – Timing and Tommy, what a combination. The end of the summah (sic) on old Cape Cod and the hospitality of race founder Tommy Leonard, put them together and what you get is what has come to be known as The Great American Road Race. This Sunday the New Balance Falmouth Road Race celebrates its 45th running.

2017 NB Falmouth Elites: (back row l-r: Craig Engels (mile), Abdi Abdirahman, Katie Mackey (mile), Diane Nukuri (’15 champion), Stephen Sambu (3X men’s champion), Jess Tonn.  (Front row: Danny Romanchuk, Krige Schabort (5x chair champ), Tatyana McFadden (2x chair champ)

Today, race weekend kicked off with a press conference at the Casino Wharf overlooking a gray Vineyard Sound and the finish line of the 7-mile summer classic. Defending champions Stephen Sambu (3x open men’s division), Katie Mackey (3x women’s Aetna Mile) and Tatyana McFadden (2x female wheelchair division) headlined the proceedings. But Falmouth weekend is very much a family reunion, too.

Inaugural year champions Jenny Tuthill and Dave Duba

Inaugural year winners Dave Duba and Jenny Tuthill were back to remember 1973, even as they wondered where the ensuing years had gone. 1975 and ’76 men’s champion and race inspiration Frank Shorter never fails to return to the Cape to join Tommy Leonard for a stroll along memory lane. And six-time women’s champ Joan Benoit Samuelson will factor once again into the master’s competition, even at age 60. (more…)

FALMOUTH ROAD RACE FOUNDER TOMMY LEONARD TURNS 84

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This Sunday the New Balance Falmouth Road Race turns 45.  But today race founder and guiding spirit Tommy Leonard celebrates his 84th birthday.

Back in the Summer of `72 Tommy was tending bar at the Brothers 4 on Falmouth Heights when Frank Shorter ran to the gold medal at the Munich Olympic Marathon.  Inspired by Frank’s win, Tommy dreamed up a local road race to help raise funds for the Falmouth Girl’s Track Club.  45 years later, both the founder and his founding spirit live on.

Tommy Leonard

Though he summered on Cape Cod, T.L. called Boston’s Eliot Lounge home for nearly a quarter century, and it was there that his legend took root.  In honor of his birthday, here is a little verse that recalls the days when a visit to Tommy was on every runner’s wish list. (more…)

FALMOUTH CHAMPS NUKURI & SAINA READY TO ROLL AFTER RIO

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Falmouth, MA. — In the early days of road racing it was not unusual for track athletes to come back from the European circuit to run the Falmouth Road race in August as a season-end topper.  The first man to do so was Marty Liquori, the great 1500 meter/5000 runner who was invited by his brother Steve through race founder Tommy Leonard to come run the second Falmouth Road race in 1974 as somewhat of a mini vacation on his way home to New Jersey from the continent.

Little did he know that rising local hero Bill Rodgers was trolling area shores ready to meet him head on over the seven-mile Cape layout. It was the Liquori scalp that elevated Rodgers (and the Falmouth Road Race) to stardom in the local media, and began Rodger’s final ascent to international recognition that culminated the following April when he won his first of four Boston Marathon titles in an American record time.

Over the years track men like Frank Shorter (1975 & `76 Falmouth champion); Craig Virgin (1979 champ); Rod Dixon of New Zealand (1980 winner); Mike McLeod of Great Britain (silver medalist in the 10,000 in L.A. `84 & 2nd to Al Salazar in Falmouth 1981), and more, came to race along the outer elbow of the Cape at the end of their track seasons.

As the sport developed, however, we saw the sport divide into distinctly parallel camps of road and track specialists with not much overlap between. This year, however, the 44th New Balance Falmouth Road Race will showcase a number of athletes returning from their Olympic experiences in Rio de Janeiro, including its last two female champions. (more…)

WATCH OUT FOR THE WHITE GUY

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Kogo with Ben True on his heels
Kogo with Ben True on his heels (Boston Herald photo)

Falmouth, Ma.  —  Charming, but telling, comments yesterday by Kenya’s Micah Kogo after his New Balance Falmouth Road Race sprint finish win over a determined Ben True of Hanover, New Hampshire (not to mention fellow Americans Abdi Abdiraham and Ben Bruce who took places four and five after joining Kogo and fellow Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai through the 10K mark of the seven-mile race).

Asked to go through the race from his vantage point to see how it compared with my view from the lead vehicle calling the race, the 2013 Boston Marathon runner-up described trying to push the pace after three miles as the historic course spilled out of the wooded section onto Surf Drive along Vineyard Sound.

“But my body was not moving,” he explained.  “So I held on through miles four and five.  But I saw that everyone was still there, even the white guy who was second.”

Oh, Micah, Micah, Micah. The humanity.  Imagine, even the white guy was still there. (more…)