The Quarterdeck Racing Team Threepeats Relay Victory

Eric Beauchesne of Chelmsford, Mass., ran away from the field to win the 25th CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon for the second straight year in a time of 2:27:59.

In the women’s division, Sarah Nixon of Mansfield, Mass., came from behind for her first win at the Cape Cod Marathon in 2:53:58.

Both Nixon and Cornell picked up $1,500 in first-place prize money for their victories.

Beauchesne, 32, beat his winning time last year by 17 seconds and finished nearly 10 minutes ahead of second-place finisher Greg Cornell, 42, of Pascoag, R.I., who finished in 2:37:35. Cornell finished first in the master’s division.

A member of the Greater Lowell Road Runners, Beauchesne becomes just the second man to win the Cape Cod Marathon twice, joining Craig Fram of Plaistow, N.H., who won in 1996 and 1997.

Beauschesne said after his victory that he had not intended to run the Cape Cod Marathon again next year, but he is rethinking his plans given his chance to become the first three-time men’s winner in race history.

"I guess I don’t have a choice. I wasn’t going to, but now I have to," said Beauchesne, who took over the lead at about 19 miles and then ran alone the rest of the way.

Nixon, 38, who had been running in third late in the race, made a late surge to take first among women. She took over first place from Veronica Kanga, 31, of Sturbridge, Mass., in the last quarter-mile of the race. Kanga finished in second in a time of 2:54:34 in one of the most competitive women’s races ever at the Cape Cod Marathon.

Nixon said she passed third-place finisher Charlene Lyford around 21 miles, but could not see Kanga ahead of her until she had just two miles to go. Spectators encouraged her by telling her she was gaining ground. "It was getting exciting," said Nixon.

She caught Kanga making the final turn onto Main Street with about 400 yards go and then sprinted for the finish.

She already knows what she is going to do with her prize money. "I’m taking my check and going to London," she said, for the London Marathon in April.

Nixon, a member of Merrimack Valley Striders, won the race just two weeks after she finished first at the B.A.A. Half Marathon in Boston.

Begun in 1978, the Cape Cod Marathon is one of New England’s longest-running marathons. This year’s race served as the USATF-New England marathon championship for the 15th time.

In the simulataneous Dunkin’ Donuts Relay, for the third year in a row, the Quarterdeck Racing Team of Falmouth captured the Cape.Com Cup in 2:32:51. The women’s relay winner was the Heartbreak Hill Striders of Cambridge in 3:05:24.

2003 - Beauschesne wins his 3rd Cape Cod Marathon;

Caron wins in women’s division

Eric Beauschesne of Chelmsford, Mass., capitalized on his knowledge of a challenging course to win his third consecutive CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 26.

In the women’s race, Nina Caron of Andover, Mass., won a tight race just two weeks after running the Chicago Marathon and gaining a qualifying time for the 2004 Olympic Trials Marathon.

Caron and Beauschesne’s victory’s highlighted the 26th running of the Cape Cod Marathon, which drew 970 marathon entrants and 170 teams for the simultaneous Dunkin’ Donuts Relay.

Beauschesne, 33, won in 2:29:24 to become the first man to win the race three times. The second-place finisher, Craig Fram, 45, of Plaistow, N.H., also had won the race twice before and dueled Beauschesne to see who would become the first three-time winner. Fram finished in 2:32:05, winning the master’s division for runners 40 and over.

“I felt great except the last few miles when somebody said I had a 2-minute lead,” Beauschesne said moments after finishing.

A member of the Greater Lowell Road Runners, Beauschesne said the windy conditions this year made for the toughest of his three victories, but he felt confident when he took the lead around 20 miles in the hilliest portion of the course.

“I love that hilly area,” said Beauschesne. If he runs well there, he said, “That’s the race.”

For Caron, her Cape Cod Marathon victory comes one year after making her marathon debut at the race last year, when she finished in seventh place. The win also follows her Oct. 12 Chicago Marathon performance of 2:45:03, a personal-best time that qualified her for the next Olympic Trials marathon.

“I can’t believe how great I felt today,” Caron, 43, and also the first women’s master, said after her win in 2:57:26. Unsure how she would feel just two weeks after running another marathon, Caron said she ran conservatively over the first half of the Cape Cod Marathon course and then started picking up the pace.

The Merrimack Valley Striders runner took the lead around mile 22 after chasing down several women in front of her, but she could not relax. Second-place finisher Simonetta Piergentili, who runs for the Whirlaway Racing Team, stayed close behind Caron over the last several miles and tried to close the gap over the last few hundred yards with a sprint down Falmouth’s Main Street.

Piergentili finished just 7 seconds behind Caron in 2:57:33, in her personal-best time.

In the simultaneous Dunkin’ Donuts Relay, the Runnin’ Rebels team of Walpole, Mass., won the men’s race in a time of 2:46:35 and the Heartbreak Hill Striders team of Jamaica Plain, Mass., won the women’s division in a time 3:04:34.

2004 - Russian Runners sweep the Sovereign Bank Cape Cod Marathon;

Khokhlov takes men’s title, Kolpakova edges Bychkova for the women’s crown

Russian Aleksey Khokhlov won the Sovereign Bank Cape Cod Marathon on Halloween Sunday, Oct. 31. In the women’s race, Russian Elvira Kolpakova edged her countrywoman Marina Bychkova to take the women’s title. The pair had also run side by side last week in a marathon in Mystic, Connecticut in which Bychkova edged Kolpakova for second place.

Khokhlov and Kolpakova’s victories highlighted the 27th running of the Cape Cod Marathon, which drew over 1200 marathon entrants and 180 teams for the simultaneous Dunkin’ Donuts Relay.

Khokhlov, 33, of Khabarovsk in far eastern Russia, won the men’s race in 2:25:36. Kevin Gray, 26, of Walpole, Mass., finished second in 2:35:49, while Jeff Day, 34, of Berea, OH took third in 2:36:55. Gray ran much of the race with three-time consecutive winner and defending champion and the 2004 fourth-place finisher Eric Beauchesne, 34, of Chelmsford, Mass. The master’s division for runners 40 and over was won by sixth-place finisher Chris Spinney of Lynn, MA in 2:38:56.

Through an interpreter, Khokhlov expressed satisfaction with his race. Khokhlov last glanced back at the receding field at about the six mile mark and never looked behind afterward. He said there was “no problem” at all; in fact, he didn’t have to think too much as it was easy running; he could just relax watch the seaside pass by and enjoy the beautiful views along the course. Khokhlov ran a personal best of 2:17:20 just three weeks ago in a marathon in Denmark.

Elvira Kolpakova, 32, of Perm, Russia, and Marina Bychkova, 28, of Ivanova, Russia, ran together, breaking to the head of the field just after the starting cannon and leading the entire race to finish in 2:52:32 for Kolpakova and 2:52:33 for Bychkova. Through an interpreter, the pair said the race went as planned, and although they didn’t find the course difficult, they did find it a bit windy in spots. Both are 100K elite runners; Bychkova finished second-place in the World 100K Championships held in the Netherlands in September.

Third-place woman and the women’s master’s division winner in 2:58:42 was former two-time CCM champion (1996, 1997), Mary-Lynn Currier, 40, of Unionville, CT. The CCM was her sixth marathon of the year; she finished second in the Hartford Marathon three weeks ago. Currier passed fourth-place finisher, and the 1998 CCM champion, Susannah Landreth, 36 of Newburyport, Mass. in the final mile. Landreth, who finished in 2:59:18, said what many of the leading finishers expressed about the course, “Hilly!”

In the simultaneous Dunkin’ Donuts Relay, the Quarterdeck Racing Team of East Falmouth, Mass., won the men’s race in a time of 2:24:20. The women’s winning relay team was GBTC Margaret Bradley Fish of Cambridge, Mass. finishing in 2:48:33, while the mixed relay champion was Panaccione Road Rulers of Dedham, Mass., which clocked a time of 2:41:59.

2005 - Rhode Island Runners Sweep the Cape Cod Marathon;

O’Neil Takes the Men’s Title, Westerling Grabs the Women’s Crown

Two Rhode Island runners won the men’s and women’s races in this year’s Cape Cod Marathon held on Sunday, Oct. 30. Keven O’Neil took first for men in 2:33:27 and Heidi Westerling had the women’s winning time of 2:46:37 in her first marathon competition. These champions led a field of over 1200 marathoners in the 28th running of the Cape Cod Marathon and 180 relay teams for the simultaneous running of the 13th Dunkin’ Donuts Relay.

O’Neil, 35, of North Kingston, RI was followed by Brendan Lynch, 27, of Dorchester, MA, who ran a 2:34:14 for second place male, and Greg Ward, 33 of Holden, MA who clocked 2:34:52 for third. O’Neil pulled away from his competitors at about mile 16. He found the last few hills a little challenging, but he was happy with the tailwind in the final miles of the course run along Vineyard Sound. He said everything about the race was good, but admitted that he was "glad that it is over." Fighting a slight hamstring pull, O’Neil, who is head cross country coach for the North Kingston High women’s team, credits the hard work and dedication put in by the boys and girls on the school’s cross country teams with giving him great inspiration. Second place finisher, Brendan Lynch, began reeling in his competitors from the half marathon mark in, catching a half dozen by mile 20 - all except O’Neil. Lynch was pleased to clock his second fastest marathon time, and had praise for the course, the support and the weather.

Garnering the women’s title in her first marathon and the fifteenth marathoner across the finish line, Heidi Westerling, 24, is from Narragansett, RI and is a student at URI. She was followed by Caroline Kondoleon, 31 of Andover, MA in second with a 2:54:10, and Amy Vile, 29, of Essex Junction, VT, who ran a 2:57:05 for third place woman. Westerling, last year’s Athlete of the Year at URI, holds the university’s records at the 3,000 and 5,000 meters indoors and 5,000 and 10,000 meters outdoors. She said she had heard "horror stories" about the course all week long, but after conquering the first major hill at the 11 mile mark, she found the hills from mile 15 through mile 23 to be fairly easy. She said she felt good throughout the race and the toughest mile was the last. Unlike Westerling, second place Caroline Kondoleon did not run in college, but has been running the past 5-6 years. An engineer, she has run 10 prior marathons. She "hit the wall" and had to fight off fatigue at mile 21, but was pleased that she hung on to finish strong, as this race was a PR by over a minute and a half.

In the men’s Master’s race Jason Cakouros, 40 of Milton, MA took first (and seventh overall) in 2:37:32, followed by Chris Spinney, 45 of Arlington, MA in a 2:38:33 for second, and Mike Cooney, 43, of Chelmsford, MA with a 2:42:05 for third place.

The women’s Master’s race was won by Debbie Barry, 40, of Ashby, MA in a 3:04:36, good for seventh place overall. Second place was Patricia Dalconzo, 42, of Lancaster, MA in 3:11:03, and, in third place, Susan McNamara, 45, of Williston, VT ran a 3:14:26.

The Greater Boston Track Club took the men’s and women’s titles in the Dunkin’ Donuts Relay, honoring their former teammate and a former Falmouth High School track and cross country star Margaret Bradley, who died in a training run last year. Both teams were hosted overnight by Margaret’s parents. The men’s team, the GBTC Margaret Bradley Fisherman of Foxboro, MA, clocked a 2:24:43, while the women’s team, the GBTC Margaret Bradley Fish of Cambridge, MA finished in 2:47:00. The Runnin’ Rebels of Walpole, MA captured the mixed title in a 2:42:27.