The Falmouth Road Race

The Falmouth Road Race is easily the biggest sporting event on Cape Cod, both in terms of the number of participants and the stature it enjoys within the sporting community.

Held on the second or third weekend of August in each of the last 37 years, the race attracts 10,000 runners (up to 4,000 are turned away each year) including world class athletes and occasional Olympic champions.

The age range of participants for one recent running spanned 80 years, with a seven-year-old and an eighty-seven-year-old both completing the course within the two-hour time limit.

Cape Cod Baseball League

The Start of the Race is in Woods Hole

But the Falmouth Road Race can be a challenge for even the most seasoned runners. At 7 miles long, it does not conform to any of the standard durations that top-class runners are used to running (10k, half-marathon, etc), and its mid-August timing can make muscle-sapping humidity a bigger obstacle than the course itself.

That's not to say the course is to be taken lightly either. While the first few miles are relatively flat, the race finishes in Falmouth Heights, which is the hilliest part of town. Take off too strong at the start and you'll pay a heavy price by the time to reach the end.

But the race is one of the most scenic road races around. Starting in the center of Woods Hole, the course takes you along the ocean for most of its length, around one of Cape Cod's iconic images, Nobska Light, and along Surf Drive.

The final leg cuts around Falmouth's Inner Harbor where cheering spectators line the streets to give runners that extra rush of adrenaline to carry them to the end.

Watching the Falmouth Road Race

The best way we've found to watch the Falmouth Road is to ride our bikes along the Shining Sea Bikeway, and “race” the runners back.

Insider Tip
The trick here is to get back to Surf Drive before the runners get there, and make sure that you cross over to the Falmouth side.
Once the runners arrive, you can't cross the road and you'll be stuck on the Woods Hole side for about an hour before they all pass by. Then you'll have no chance of reaching the finish line before the runners do.

One year, when our daughter and a neighbor were running, we were able to cycle right into the center of Woods Hole to watch the start (there's NO WAY you'll get a car anywhere near the starting line on that day), trace our way back to Surf Drive to cheer them along at about the halfway point, and still be at the finish line in time to cheer them on to the end.

For folks who just want to watch, the best viewing area is close to the end around Falmouth Inner Harbor. The finish line in Falmouth Heights is also a pretty good vantage point, particularly if you have competing friends or family you want to meet up with after the race.

Be warned, though, taking a car into this part of town on race day is really not recommended. Traffic is beyond awful, and most spectators park well away from that area and walk or ride bikes to and from the finish line