RESULTS OF 23RD CAPE COD MARATHON AND DUNKIN' DONUTS MARATHON RELAY

Contact: Courtney Bird, 508-540-6959 or 508-457-8802 (cell)

Gough, Taber win the 23rd annual CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon

FALMOUTH, Mass. - The CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon lived up to expectations Sunday, Oct. 29, as strong fields on both the men's and women's sides resulted in the most exciting to watch in several years.

In the men's race, pre-race favorite Danny Gough of Newport, R.I., led the way in the first with a time of 2:24:29. The top four men all finished under 2:30. The second-place finisher in 2:27:55 was Craig Fram of Plaistow, N.H., who won the race in 1996 and 1997.

The women's race featured a duel between training partners and Merrimack Valley Striders teammates Molly Taber, 27, and Jill Gaitenby, 33, of Boston. Taber took the lead in the last half mile and won in 2:54:26 after the pair ran together the entire race.

In an unfortunate development, two of the top runners, Chris Teague of Norwood, Mass., and Eric G. Beauchesne of Chelmsford, Mass., ran off course little more than a mile from the finish. They had been second and third at the time, but a course monitor did not direct them to turn as they should have. They ran an estimated 600 yards out of the way before they were notified they were off course. In all likelihood, the pair would have finished second and third. Teague ended up in seventh, Beachusne in eighth. Race officials considered a protest from Teague and Beauchesne's team, Greater Lowell Road Runners, but decided the official results stand.

With her win Sunday, Taber clinched the 2000 USA Track and Field-New England Grand Prix, a series of seven road races around the region. Taber lived in Boxford, Mass., until two weeks ago when she was married and moved to Chicago.

For their victories, both Taber and Gough won $1,500 in prize money.

In the men's race, Gough ran with a large pack for the first half of the race and then pulled away. The Cape Cod Marathon course is known to be tougher in the second half with a series of hills, but Gough, 32, still ran the second half faster (about 1:14:15 and then 1:10:15).

"I wanted to hammer those last five or six miles," said Gough, who ran in the men's Olympic Trials marathon in May. He said a cramp slowed him slightly for the last three miles.

With his second-place finish, Fram won the master's division for runners over 40 and clinched the USATF-New England Grand Prix series in the master's category. Fram, 42, ran 2:27:55.

In the women's master's division, Marge Bellisle, 45, of Warren, R.I., finished first after leading the overall women's race through 16 miles. Bellisle, who won the women's race outright last year, finished third overall among women in a time of 3:04:52.

One of the race's most amazing performances came from Dave Dunham, 36, of Bradford, Mass. He finished in fifth-place (2:30:53) just three weeks after winning the Chancellor Challenge 100K (62 miles) in Boston. Earlier this fall he also won Clarence DeMar and New Hampshire marathons.

In the simultaneous Dunkin' Donuts Relay, the Quarterdeck Track Club of Falmouth finished first in 2:24:53. The first women's relay team was the Mojo Mamas of Marshfield, 3:04:30.

This year's Cape Cod Marathon was the largest in the race's 23-year history with 1,200 marathoners and 150 relay teams entered. Both the marathon and the relay reached caps set by organizers from the Falmouth Track Club more than a month before race day.

Cape Cod Marathon results:

Men

1. Danny Gough, Newport, R.I., 2:24:29
2. Craig Fram, Plaistow, N.H., 2:27:55
3. Lowell Ladd, Carlisle, Pa., 2:28:05
4. Larry Sayers, Bellows Falls, Vt., 2:28:55
5. Dave Dunham, Bradford, Mass., 2:30:53
6. Paul Hammond, Lexington, Mass., 2:32:01
7. Chris Teague, Norwood, Mass., 2:33:22 *
8. Eric Beauchesne, Chelmsford, Mass., 2:34:23 *
9. Christopher Lawrence, Providence, R.I., 2:34:29
10. Greg Cornell, Pascoag, R.I., 2:34:37

* Teague and Beauschesne ran off course because a course monitor failed to direct them to turn as they should have about one mile from the finish. They would have likely finished second and third if they did not off course.

Women

1. Molly Taber, Chicago, 2:54:26
2. Jill Gaitenby, Boston, 2:54:38
3. Marge Bellisle, Warren, R.I., 3:04:52
4. Sue LaChance, Lunenburg, Mass., 3:07:52
5. Marielle Yost, Lexington, Mass., 3:08:53
6. Anne Kugler, New York, N.Y., 3:09:23

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