Gilbert Okari won August 13′s Falmouth Road Race by breaking away from his KIMbia teammate Tom Nyariki in the sixth mile of the 7.1-mile race. Okari’s victory, in 31:53 minutes, was his third consecutive title at this classic event along the ocean in Massachusetts. Nyariki took second in 32:03. KIMbia’s John Korir, who won Falmouth in 1999, 2001 and 2003, was third in 32:39.
Although the weather for this year’s race was splendid, with a slight tailwind, cool temperatures and low humidity, Okari’s time was well off the course record of 31:08 he set in 2004. The race started conservatively, with the first few miles passing at about 4:40 minutes per mile pace. Then Okari dropped the pace significantly, into the 4:20s. During a 4:18 sixth mile, Okari broke Nyariki and ran unchallenged the rest of the way to the finish.
Okari had tried to use similar tactics last week at the Beach to Beacon 10-kilometer race in Maine. There, however, his left hamstring bothered him, and he had to back off the pace, allowing Nyariki to surge ahead for the win. After this week’s victory, Okari said, “I ran easy all week and I felt my hamstring got better day by day, so I was confident I could run well today. I know Tom is faster than me, so I pushed very hard after three miles. I’m very happy to win, since I’ve now won three [Falmouth titles] like Korir.” Indeed, Okari now joins Korir and Bill Rodgers as the race’s only three-time male winners, and of the three, he is the only to win three in a row.
Although at age 58, Rodgers is no longer a threat to win Falmouth, he ran this year’s race, as he has almost every year since his victories in the 1970s. Other past champions running this year included Beach to Beacon founder Joan Samuelson, who ran a credible 42:30 despite a calf injury, and Frank Shorter.
Two other former champs were much closer to the front: Russia’s Alventina Ivanova, who won Falmouth in 2004 and dominated Beach to Beacon last week, ran away with this year’s race. Her time of 35:43 put her 47 seconds ahead of Catherine Ndereba, a three-time Falmouth winner who finished second this year in 36:30. KIMbia’s Edna Kiplagat followed up her second-place finish at Beach to Beacon with a third-place run of 36:51.
What started as a glorified fun run more than 30 years ago has become one of the premier stops on the American road racing scene. This year, a record 8,256 runners finished the point-to-point course from a narrow drawbridge in Woods Hole to Falmouth Heights.
For complete results, visit the race’s Web site.
