Cambridge Sports Union Takes Ocean Spray Relay

Running on a warm fall day, Chip Pierce of Newport, VT, and Susannah R. Landreth of Newburyport, MA, captured the men's and women's titles at the 21st Cape Cod Marathon. Both Pierce, 38, and Landreth, 30, won by more than 6-minute margins and bested a near record field of 792 registered runners. For their efforts, each received $1,500 in prize money. Pierce's winning time was 2:28:16.

With her 3:01:33 victory, which came in her first marathon, Landreth also clinched the 1998 USATF New England Road Race Grand Prix women's title. The Cape Cod Marathon was the final race in the seven-race series.

For Pierce, his Cape Cod victory was his best marathon since winning the Seattle Marathon in 1989. Pierce, a member of the Greater Lowell Road Runnes, ran the second half of the race faster than the first - a tough task on a course that saves its hills for the final 13 miles. "My training in Vermont is up and down, up and down," Pierce said. "The hills didn't seem that much." Pierce said the early pace was slower than he expected and that he started picking up the tempo around mile 14. "From 10 to 23 felt great," he said.

The second-place finisher was Mel Gonsalves, a 1982 Falmouth High School graduate who now lives in Randolph, MA. He was elated with his showing in his hometown race. "I was just loving it," he said. Running for the Boston Athletic Association, Gonsalves won $750 for his second-place finish in a time of 2:34:55.

Landreth, a member of the Winners Circle Running Club, took the women's title in just her first attempt at the marathon distance. She originally planned to make her marathon debut at the Ocean State Marathon in Rhode Island two weeks later, but decided to run Cape Cod when she realized she could win the USATF-New England Grand Prix title. Landreth was coached by Rich Bayko, 1984 winner of the Cape Cod Marathon. "I was able to alert her to the fact there were some serious hills there." "It was everything I expected to be," said Landreth. She took the lead early in the race and said she knew by 10 miles she could win if she did not fall apart. She started slowing down around 18 miles, she said.

The second-place woman was 52-year-old Susan Gustafson of Norwell, MA. She also received $750 for taking second and set a new course record in the Senior Women's Division.

In the simultaneous Ocean Spray Marathon Relay, Cambridge Sports Union took first in the men's division with a time of 2:33:47. The Cape Cod Road Runners won the women's division of the relay in 3:10:00, and the first mixed team to cross the line was "4 Guys, a Girl & a Marathon" from Falmouth in a time of 2:45:39. In the Corporate Divisions, the Men's Large Business category was won by Jacobs Engineering (3:18:37); Men's Small Business by Tim's Lawn Care (3:04:56); Women's Large Business by 88 GI Quatro (3:57:01); Women's Small Business by Bickford Health (3:59:47); Mixed Large Business by MBL Lightning (3:04:18); and Mixed Small Business by HEI Personal Fitness Trainers (3:16:07). 112 relay teams comprising 545 runners participated in the 1998 edition of the marathon relay.

The 1998 marathon inaugurated an 8:00 am start time - three hours earlier than in the past. There was less traffic and the runners missed the warmest part of the day. The move was well-received by both runners and organizers. It was a very successful edition of the marathon with a near record field in both the marathon and relay. One week later, the USATF New England voted to again designate Cape Cod the site of the 1999 Championship.

1999 - Woburn Man Wins CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon

Merrimack Valley Striders Masters Triumph in Dunkin' Donuts Relay

Robert Dabrieo of Woburn, Mass., won the 22nd Annual CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon Sunday, Oct. 31, by a comfortable margin after staking a large lead early in the race.

Dabrieo, 37, won with a time of 2:32:56 seconds, about two-and-a-half minutes ahead of second-place finisher Jim Garcia of Westford, the race's 1995 winner. Knowing the experienced Garcia was behind him, Dabrieo said he was happy he had a large lead headed into the final miles of the 26.2-mile race. "Luckily, I had a little lead because I didn't run that well the last four or five miles," said Dabrieo, who runs for the Whirlaway Racing Team.

Over the first half of the race, another runner led the race, but he planned only to run half of the race and dropped out as planned at 13.1 miles. Dabrieo then took over first place and led the rest of the way. Garcia's second-place finish also captured him first in the master's division for men 40 and over.

In the women's race, Marge Bellisle of Warren, R.I., employed a come-from-behind strategy and an unusual piece of running equipment to win the race. At 19 miles in the hilliest section of the course, Bellisle passed early leader Christine Reaser of Dayton, Maine. In addition to being the first overall woman, Bellisle, 44, also captured the women's masters division.

Bellisle credited her victory to a restaurant placemat tucked inside the waistband of her shorts. The rubber placemat provides protection for abdominal muscles that trouble Bellisle after surgery two years ago. "The rubber blocks the wind," she explained. The day before the race she ran three miles without the placemat. "I was in agony by two because I didn't have my placemat." Bellisle said she too struggled late in the race, but added, "Being in first place psyches you up to keep you going."

In the Dunkin' Donuts Marathon Relay, the Merrimack Valley Striders masters team took first place with a time of 2:36:36. The winning women's relay team was the Cape Cod Road Runners II in a time of 3:19:41, and the winning mixed team was Critz Money, an ensemble of Falmouth High School cross country runners, in 2:42:30.

The 22nd running of the CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon was a record-setter for the host Falmouth Track Club with the largest fields ever. The marathon drew 1,042 entrants, and 150 teams took part in the five-leg Dunkin' Donuts Relay. As the race organizers looked forward to the 2000 race, the USATF-NE again voted the marathon its championship - the 13th time in 14 years that the race has been so designated

2000 - Gough, Taber win the 23rd Annual CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon

Quarterdeck Track Club Takes Dunkin' Donuts Relay

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 stood.

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 before the race 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 in 1999, 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 1,230 marathoners and 151 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.

2001 - Beauchesne, Kimball Stage Come from Behind Victories at 24th Annual CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon

Eric G. Beauchesne of Chelmsford, Mass., and Nikki Kimball of Auburn, Mass., pulled away from the early leaders to capture the 24th annual CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon on Sunday, Oct. 28.

For Beauchesne, the victory was sweet redemption after last year's race in which he and another took a wrong turn about a mile from the finish, knocking him from second place down to eighth.

This year, Beauchesne won in a time of 2:28:16, 1 minute 40 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher, Craig Fram, 43, of Plaistow, N.H., a two-time winner of the Cape Cod Marathon. Fram, 43, was the winner in the master's division for runners over 40.

Beauchesne said a desire to avenge last year's disappointing turn of events is what brought him back to this year's Cape Cod Marathon. "I was worked up about it," said Beauchesne, 31, who runs for the Greater Lowell Road Runners.

Beauchesne won Sunday by hanging back behind the lead pack before making a move around mile 20. "I figured this is it, one chance," he said.

In the women's race, Kimball won by employing similar tactics. She let early leader Suzy West get ahead of her, but she caught and passed West around mile 18. Kimball, 31, won in a time of 3:01:29. It was her first marathon win.

The Cape Cod Marathon course, known for its hills, suited Kimball's strength. She is a member of the U.S. Mountain Running Team. "I absolutely love hills so they were great," she said about the Cape course.

Both Kimball and West were supposed to run in the world championships in Italy in September, but the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 forced them to miss the race when the airlines were grounded. The second-place woman was Cheryl A. Taylor of Worcester, Mass., in a time of 3:03:25. West finished third.

IThe first master woman was Nancy R. Corsaro, 42, of Metheun, Mass., in a time of 3:05:03.

In the simultaneous Dunkin' Donuts Marathon Relay, the Quarterdeck Racing Team of Falmouth won for the second consecutive year in a time of 2:27:30. The women's relay winner was Wednesday's Wild Women of Mashpee, 3:16:46, and Bearly Running of Providence, RI, 2:44:31, was the first Mixed Team.

This year's CompassBank Cape Cod Marathon was the largest in the race's 24-year history with 1,261 marathoners and 150 relay teams entered. For the second year in a row, both the marathon and the relay reached caps set by organizers from the Falmouth Track Club more than a month before race day. It was an ideal day for running a marathon with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid to upper forties. 33% of the runners who had run a marathon before set PR's and 21% met the qualifying times for the Boston Marathon.