Ristaino Applies 1989 Lesson, Silsby Triples

"It's the economy, stupid!" the saying goes. From 1990 to 1993, the country was in a recession. Massachusetts and Cape Cod, in particular, were hit hard. The marathon would not escape the effects. Road Races require financial support other than entry fees to cover costs. The Cape Cod Marathon, which historically has had a small operating budget compared to other marathons, gets only 60% of its costs covered by entry fees. The rest comes from the support of corporate sponsors. Because Cape Cod in the fall is not perceived to be in a major market such as Boston or Providence, corporations tend to shy away. The Cape Cod Marathon had always looked to local businesses for support. In the early years, it was Peters-Hartel, and later, Falmouth Woods Development Corporation. In 1987, Fred Legate, president of the Sandwich Co-operative Bank and a Falmouth Track Club member who had set a PR at Cape Cod, was persuaded by Courtney Bird to have the bank become a sponsor of the event. Thus began an ongoing association by the bank with the marathon that continued through 1998 when it was taken over by New Bedford based Compass Bank. Compass Bank has elected to continue the sponsorship through 1999 at least. Over the years the level of Sandwich Co-operative's support varied with the state of the economy. but year after year the bank was there. In fact, were it not for the bank's sponsorship during those recession years, Cape Cod might well have disappeared.

But it was not just sponsorship. Many runners during the eighties combined the Cape Cod Marathon with a getaway weekend or week. Even many New England runners who could could have made the marathon a day trip, spent the night or the weekend in the Falmouth area. But in the early '90's, fewer runners travelled or came only for the day, and those that did come spent less in the local economy. Restaurateurs and hotel keepers could see it in their balance sheets.

And the Cape Cod Marathon? During those years, the race organizers focused on maintaining the quality of the event and on being able to continue to offer runners of all abilities the amenities for which the event had become known. Prize money would only be offered if sponsorship permitted. From 1989 to 1993 sponsorship did not permit, and the marathon survived only because of the determination of the Falmouth Track Club to stage a first class race and the loyal sponsorship of the Sandwich Co-operative Bank.

The 13th annual Cape Cod Marathon attracted a field of 609 including Don Alvey, Gregg Cornell, Tom Amiro, local favorite Ken Gartner, and Lou Ristaino, who was back to gain the victory that eluded him in 1990. The women's field included several good New England club runners. As had been her pattern in the past, Shirley Silsby remained undecided. The Rhode Island Marathon had moved its date to the week following Cape Cod and its $1,200.00 first place prize purse was tempting. But Silsby's ties to the Cape proved to be strong. On race day she entered.

When the cannon boomed, temperatures were in the 50's, and it was overcast - almost ideal conditions. A lead pack of Ristaino, Gartner, Alvey, Cornell, Amiro, and Carroll emerged after the first mile. Then, Gartner and Alvey took a hundred yard lead. As the miles ticked by, Alvey dropped back leaving Gartner alone in front. As the runners went through the 12-mile point, Gartner maintained his lead, but Alvey, Ristaino, and Cornell were only 100 yards back. At 13 miles, Ristaino began to make his move, he broke away from Cornell, surged past Alvey, and made a run at Gartner. At 15 miles, Ristaino, using the lessons he'd learned the year before, went by Gartner and accelerated through the Sippewissett hills. By the time he ran onto the flats of Surf Drive, he had developed a commanding lead over the rest of the field. When Ristaino crossed the line with a very respectable 2:28:10, he showed he had mastered the lessons of the course and had run a textbook race. Gartner faded to eighth while Don Alvey moved into second place for good in the hills. Alvey finished in 2:33:19 followed by Cornell (2:34:56).

In the women's race, Shirley Silsby followed the same lesson plan as Ristaino. Run conservatively in the beginning and power through the hills. For the first 16 miles she ran with Eastham's Cheryl Schultze and then got down to business in the hills. Silsby crossed the finish line for a third consecutive victory in 2:46:49 - her best time on the course up to that time. Schultze finished second in 3:07:14.

But Silsby was not done. She went to Rhode Island the following week and duplicated her back to back marathon feat for the second year in a row with a time of 2:49:43.

1991 - Hurricane Bob Almost Spoils Party

Silsby Does it Again - 4th Victory in a Row, Age Triumphs in Men's Race

The weather gods did not smile on Cape Cod that year. Early preparations for the race in the winter and spring were on target. The date was set for October 27th, the organizers bid for and received the NEAC marathon championship again, and sponsorship was secured from Sandwich Co-operative and other local sponsors. Plans were progressing smoothly until the day after the August Falmouth Road Race. Hurricane Bob struck the Cape. The 1« mile long Surf Drive and the cottages along it were destroyed. The road was impassable. That section comprised the 24th mile of the marathon course. The town could not repair the road until it received federal emergency funds and those got tied up in red tape. In September, the Falmouth Department of Public Works assured the organizers that they would have the money by early October and that the road would be ready for the marathon.

Then three weeks before the race, Race Director Courtney Bird learned that the federal money was not going to be available in time and the road was not going to be repaired. At that point, Bird began scrambling. If a short 150 yard section of Surf Drive could be made passable by grading and adding a few inches of compacting gravel, the last two miles of the race could be easily rerouted. Because of the politically sensitive nature of asking the town to divert its already strained resources for a road race, Bird got a commitment of help from Lawrence-Lynch Corporation, a road construction firm located in Falmouth. After meetings with officials from Lawrence-Lynch and the Falmouth DPW, the town agreed to supply the labor and machinery to grade the road and Lawrence-Lynch donated the compacting gravel. The town agreed to open this short stretch of the road for the race. The race committee quickly laid out the new course, measured it, and obtained the necessary recertification. The last two miles would now go up Elm Road, along Locust Street and finish on main street nearly in front of Town Hall Square.

Perhaps because of uncertainties about the course, the field was off some from the year before. On race day, the final total of registered runners was 526, of which about 475 actually started. The men's field was thin at the top because there was a large prize money purse at the Rhode Island Marathon to be held a week later and because most of the men's championship races in the NEAC Grand Prix had already been decided. But a number of good club runners who were capable of running in the high 2:20's and low 2:30's did sign up. They included Pat Moreton (CSU), Tony Moranto (CSU), Don Alvey (GLRR), Tom Carroll (GLRR), Tom Amiro (GLRR) and Peter Bloomquist (CMS). The women's field was a different story. Peg Donovan (GLRR), Lisa Senatore (GLRR) and Lois Duquette (GBTC) were all competing for the the women's individual championship and all had PR's in the 2:40's. A further incentive was that it was an Olympic year in 1992, and these women were all looking to qualify for the Olympic Trials marathon. And then there was three-time women's champion, Shirley Silsby Frye.

The weather was overcast and cool, but extremely humid. Don Alvey, second for the past two years, moved out into an early lead over GLRR teammate, Tom Carroll and led the race well into the Sippewissett hills. At 19 miles, Carroll, surged past Alvey and cruised in to a 2:34:10 victory. He is the only master to win Cape Cod. Don Alvey settled for second (2:35:01) for the third year in a row, and Terry Gilmore from Burlington, VT was third (2:36:01).

The women's race provided the real drama that year, and Shirly Silsby Frye's experience and knowledge of the course was the major factor. Shirley had written the textbook on the race entitled "Start Slow and Finish Strong." Donovan, Senatore, and Duquette hadn't read the book and went out quickly. Donovan pulled into the lead followed by Senatore and Duquette. At the cranberry bogs at the eight mile point, the three women leaders went by with barely a minute separating first from third. Five minutes after third place Lisa Duquette passed by, Frye loped through looking relaxed and smooth. Given the field, had she let the leaders get away from her? By the halfway mark, it was clear that Frye was beginning her move. She had closed in on Duquette and was only one minute behind her and five minutes behind the leader, Donovan. At 19 miles, Frye overtook Duquette and set her sights on Lisa Senatore. When Frye turned onto Water Street in Woods Hole, just past the 21-mile point, she passed Senatore. Donovan was now only a quarter mile ahead and appeared to be tiring. Frye, on the other hand, looked strong and was accelerating. At 22.2 miles at the bottom of Nobska Light Hill, Frye overtook Donovan and quickly put a hundred yards between her and her rival. Frye powered her way through the rest of the hills, and captured her 4th consecutive victory in 2:46:05. Donovan was second (2:46:56), and Senatore finished third (2:50:39). Without question, Frye had faced her toughest competition ever that day and proved more than equal to the task.

1992 - Husband & Wife Team of Moreton & Moreton Take Men's & Women's Top Honors

The 15th edition of the marathon was set for Sunday, October 26th. Again Cape Cod would host the NEAC marathon championship, and the organizers decided to keep the hurricane altered course in tact for another year. Again, sponsorship money proved elusive, but the Sandwich Co-operative Bank's ongoing support kept the race alive. The number of entries remained fairly constant at 502. The composition of the field was similar to 1991 in that club runners, both men and women, registered to compete for individual and team honors in the NEAC Grand Prix series. The Cambridge Sports Union dispatched strong men's and women's contingents, Pat and Joy Moreton among them, and the Boston Running Club sent their top women.

Race day was dreary, windy, 42 degrees, and raining. A pack of runners including Pat Moreton, Falmouth's Ken Gartner, Jon Waldron (CSU), and Terry McNatt (CSU) ran together through much of the race. With about 3« miles to go, Moreton broke away from Gartner and Waldron, powered through the wind and rain finished with a very respectable 2:29:20. Second place, Ken Gartner, PR'd with a 2:32:02. Third place went to Jon Waldron (2:34:09).

Pat Moreton now waited for his wife. Joy took the lead from the start and ran strongly through the first 18 miles. Behind her ran the three BRC teammates, Mimi Corcoran, Maura Conolly, and Cathy Lifschultz. Corcoran and Connolly stayed together the entire race; however, because of the snakelike nature of the course, they did not realize until it was too late that Moreton was slowing and they were gaining. Although Moreton was very tired, she kept her form together and hung on for victory in 2:55:10. Corcoran and Connolly finished together less than a minute later in 2:56:46, and Lifschultz came in fourth (2:58:15).

The nasty weather took its toll. Of the approximately 475 starters, only 368 finished. But the race was a family affair -- the only time Cape Cod has ever been won by husband and wife.

1993 - Five Leg Relay Added to Marathon

Silsby-Frye Wins 5th, Matiskella Takes Top Honors

The date of 16th Cape Cod was set for Sunday, October 24th. At the USATF New England Grand Prix Meeting in November 1992, Cape Cod was again awarded the championship over a strong bid from the Rhode Island Marathon whose hefty prize purse was very attractive to many clubs. When the race committee began its planning, there was a strong feeling that another event ought to be added to the marathon in order to widen participation and attract more sponsorship. Various ideas were considered including adding a half marathon but were discarded as being logistically impractical. Finally at the suggestion of Shirley Silsby Frye, it was decided to add a five leg marathon relay to be run simultaneously. Frye had seen how well a relay had worked at the Vermont City Marathon and the race committee copied many of the mechanical aspects from Vermont. The idea of a relay as a championship event for the USATF-NE was even discussed. The Cape Cod Marathon Relay was to be a demonstration event to determine the idea's feasibility.

Meanwhile, a new marathon appeared in Rhode Island - the Ocean State. It was organized by many of the same people who had staged the original Ocean State run for many years in Newport. Their date was set for the week before Cape Cod. The late October - early November marathon calendar now was not just crowded; it was packed. In 1990, after the demise of the Boston Peace Marathon, the Bay State Marathon was born as a late winter Boston qualifier. In 1991, its organizers moved the race to mid-October, two weeks before Cape Cod. With the insertion of Ocean State in the empty slot, there were now four marathons in four consecutive weeks. The fields were diluted in all races.

Sunday, October 24th was a beautiful New England fall day, although the temperatures for the marathoners were a bit warm at 65 degrees. The race had returned to its original course, and a field of 439 marathoners and 27 relay teams registered.

As had typified Cape Cod's fields for the past few years, the race was dominated by top club runners. The horses looking for prize money chose to run Rhode Island or Ocean State instead, and runners worshipping the gods of "Flat and Fast" went to Bay State. Ken Gartner, one of his house mates, Keith Matiskella, running his first marathon, Jon Waldron, Jim Morisseau, and Larry Olsen were potential winners. On the women's side, Shirley Frye, who had sat out the 1992 marathon, was clearly the favorite. However, Tri-Valley's Larry Olsen said that one of the women he was coaching, Colleen Brown, might be able to break three hours.

Matiskella took the lead at the start and was never seriously challenged. His 2:31:05 was a very good first marathon. He acknowledged at he had made every rookie mistake in the book. He went out too fast, did not drink enough fluids in the early part of the race, got a stitch in his side and spent the rest of the race getting rid of it. Larry Olsen and Ken Gartner dropped out and two master runners, Jim Morisseau (2:39:12) and Bob Ruel (2:41:11) placed second and third respectively.

In the Women's race, Shirley Frye lived up to her billing and captured her fifth Cape Cod Marathon title in 2:55:14. She ran in the front from the beginning, but second place Colleen Brown, running her best marathon ever, got to within a minute and a half of Frye at 20 miles, but could not close any further. Nevertheless her second place finish of 2:58:43 was a PR by 17 minutes!

Although only 27 teams competed, the inaugural relay proved to be a very successful and positive addition to the event. The crowds of spectators and runners on the course increased and it allowed a wider variety of runners to participate. The limited number of relay teams allowed the race organizers the opportunity to test the logistical systems, and they worked well. The relay fitted in nicely with the marathon. An open team from the Cape Cod A.C. captured the title, but the feedback from the other participants was very positive.