Falmouth Education 5K
2020 Virtual Race Results
Falmouth Education 5K 2020 Virtual Run/Walk
.png)
We’ve hit a few roadblocks along the road to the newly revamped Falmouth Education 5K. The race will not be held in June 2023. Thank you for your patience as our team works through these obstacles.
We hope to debut the new course in June 2024.
The Falmouth Education 5K
Our Story
Since our inaugural race in 2011, the Falmouth Education 5K (formerly the Falmouth Flag Day 5K) has donated over $60,000 to the Falmouth Education Foundation and Falmouth Public Schools. Our scenic 3.1-mile route starts and finishes in front of the British Beer Company, 263 Grand Avenue, Falmouth Heights, Massachusetts, USA. Runners and walkers of all speeds and ages are welcome. Medals are given to all finishers 17 and under. Plaques and merchandise/gift certificates are given to top age-group and open finishers.
About the Falmouth Education 5K
Course
Our new scenic 5K course will be debuted in 2024. Stay tuned!
History
The Falmouth Flag Day 5K was founded in 2011 by Kathy Sherman, Rich Sherman and Jo-Ann Leaf. The Shermans co-directed the Falmouth Road Race for 38 years and Jo-Ann was a key staff member for many years.
After the three left the road race in 2011, they decided to utilize their decades of experience and expertise (Rich also founded and co-directed the Cape Cod Marathon in 1978) to create a 5K run/walk in the tradition of the early Falmouth Road Races, with family fun for runners and walkers of all speeds and ages.
Since 2012 the beneficiary of the Flag Day 5K has been the Falmouth Education Foundation. More than $60,000 has been donated to the foundation over the years. The first race drew about 200 people and last year’s event almost reached its maximum of 500 participants.
Many of the sponsors who worked with the Shermans since the Falmouth Road Race’s inception in 1973 continued to aid in their efforts to support education in our community.
Jo-Ann, Kathy and Rich are excited to have Falmouth educators take the reins of this event, which is now named Falmouth Education 5K and will be held in June each year.
Race Management Team
Lindsay Benson is a special education teacher at Mullen-Hall Elementary. An active member of the Falmouth running community, Lindsay also works on the race management team for the New Balance Falmouth Road Race, serves on the board of directors for the Falmouth Track Club, and participates in many local road and trail races. Lindsay lives in Falmouth Heights with her husband, Matt, and their three sons, Jacob, James and Finn. In her free time, Lindsay enjoys honing her photography skills, and training for and recovering from marathons.
Carrie Shanahan has worked as the physical education teacher at Teaticket Elementary since 1998, where she established the Mile Club, motivating students to log thousands of miles each year. Recently, Carrie launched the morning movement program, enabling students to start their day on the track outside at school. Carrie serves on the board of directors for Falmouth Volunteers in Public Schools (VIPS), and coaches Girls Golf at Falmouth High School. She has volunteered with the race since its start. Carrie lives in East Falmouth with her husband, Chris, and their two children, Katie and Christopher. When she isn’t working or volunteering, she is supporting them on the ice and fields.
Stephanie Carreiro works as a teaching assistant at Lawrence Junior High School, while also working toward her master’s degree in special education at American International College. Stephanie has volunteered for several events that support the Falmouth Education Foundation, including the Flag Day 5K, before taking a leadership role in the race in 2019. She lives in Falmouth with her husband, Joseph, and their two daughters, Hailey and Leah. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family outdoors and enjoying all of the beauty Falmouth has to offer.
Past Results
News
New course record at 2019 Flag Day 5K
Charlie Marquardt of Philadelphia lived up to his advanced billing and broke the course record at the Ninth Annual Falmouth Flag Day 5K on June 16 with a 15:40, besting the previous record of 16:10 set in 2016 by Robert DeLeo of Brookline. A 20 mile-per-hour headwind with gusts reaching 28 mph slowed the runners after the turn-around as they pushed through the final straight-away along Vineyard Sound. Marquardt was shadowed by 2015 Harvard grad Billy Looney for the first mile (4:58) but faded at the halfway mark and Marquardt ran alone along the water for the rest of the race. “Around halfway I could feel that the pace was too much for me and Charlie simply put the hammer down and left me in his wake,” explained Looney. Derik Noland, 25, of Kingston and Caleb Gartner, 16, of Falmouth, passed Looney and finished 2-3. Last year’s winner, Lucas Roy, placed fifth. Noland, a former Westfield State runner, and Gartner, a high school junior, chased Marquardt in the last mile but there was no catching the six-time division three All-American out of Haverford College, Penn., class of 2016.
“I felt good,” said Marquardt, who ran a 3:55 mile last summer, has a PR of 14:07 at 5,000 meters and won the race in 2011. “I was hoping to run a bit faster but that headwind in the last mile was tough and I was running alone, so I just cruised in. It’s a really nice race and a beautiful course, with a good bunch of fast runners.”
Jen MacDowell of Falmouth, 32, outran three past champions to record the second woman’s fastest time in the event’s history, 18:51. She ran for Colby College, graduating in 2009, and just moved to Falmouth recently, where she will work as volunteer coordinator at the Falmouth Senior Center. She hit two miles in 11:48 but slowed in the headwind down the stretch. MacDowell beat 2017 winner, Emily Stone of Falmouth, 20:11, Andrea Noland, 20:16, defending champion Julianna Coughlin, Falmouth, 20:31 and 2016 champ, Anne Preisig, Falmouth, 20:50.
This year, with the race on Father’s Day, John Noland (13th) and his daughter, Andrea (17th), ran away with the father-daughter title, while he also teamed with his son, Derik (2nd) to take the father-son award.
Age-group results were impressive in a several categories. Jim May of Williamson, N.Y., 73, won his division in 22:16, trailed by Falmouth's Lenny Collins in 23:03. Eleven-year-old twins Nathan (20:18) and Silas (20:23) Gartner of Falmouth were 19thand 21stoverall and 1-2 in their age-group. Another 11-year-old, Ava Bullock of Falmouth, clocked a 21:33. On the other end of the age scale, Bob Yates of Falmouth, 82, won his age-group, and Cynthia Cardoza, 72, ran 32:32.
