7 Titles to be Defended at 39th Falmouth RR

Seven
Titles will be Defended at the

39^th
Annual New Balance Falmouth Road Race

Falmouth, Mass. ‰ÛÓ   Winners in seven divisions will be defending
their titles in the upcoming New Balance Falmouth Road Race – overall women,
masters men and women, American men and women as well as wheelchair men and
women.  In additon, the men’s course
record holder will be returning.  This annual Cape Cod summer classic will held at 10 a.m. Sunday,
Aug. 14.  A field of 11,000 runners will
race the scenic waterfront seven-mile course winding from Woods Hole to
Falmouth Heights. 

Ethiopian Wude Ayalew, age 23, won
the women’s division in 35:46, four seconds ahead of 2010 Beach to Beacon
champion Linenth Chepkirui of Kenya.  In
2011, Ayalew bested Chepkirui at the Crescent City Classic 10K 31:33 to 31:44.  Chasing Ayalew will be fellow Ethiopians, 2009
Falmouth winner, Mamitu Daska, 27, who finished first at 2011 Freihofer’s Run
for Women 5K in a personal best of 15:19 and Dire Tune, 26, 2008 Boston
Marathon winner with a 10K best of 31:40. 
Four-time Falmouth champion and two-time Olympic Marathon silver
medalist, Catherine Ndereba, 38, of Kenya will return after finishing fourth in
2010. 

Two-time Falmouth winner Colleen De Reuck,
47, of Boulder, Colo., who finished fifth overall in 2010, will defend her
American and masters titles.  Other American
women to watch are Kenyan-born Janet Cherobon, 32, of Atlanta, Ga., who holds a
10K personal best of 32:37 and wins including 2011 Mercedes Half Marathon, 2011
Cellcom Green Bay Marathon and 2010 Marine Corps Marathon; Romanian-born Adriana Nelson, 31,
of Fort Collins, Colo., the first American at last month’s Peachtree Road Race
10K in a personal best of 32:49 and Frances Koons, 25, who has a personal 5,000
meter best of 15:29.96.  Six-time
Falmouth winner and Olympic marathon gold medalist, Joan Beniot Samuelson, 53, of
Freeport, Maine, who was fourth master and 16^th woman overall will
again be a crowd favorite.

Thirty-one year old Gilbert Okari of Kenya
who set the race course record of 31:08 in 2004 and defending American men’s
champion Ed Moran, 30, of Williamsburg, Va., will be competing against a packed
men’s field.  Challengers include Americans
Abdi Abdirahman, 34, of Tuscon, Ariz., three-time Olympian, four-time USA 10K
champion with a 27:22.81 10,000 meter best; Mohamed Trafeh, 26, of Tampa, Fla.,
with a half marathon best of 1:00:39; Fasil Bizuneth, 31, of Indianapolis,
Ind., the 2010 US 10-mile champion with a 27:50.48 and 10,000 meter best as
well as Fernando Cabada, 29, of Boulder, Colo., the US 25K champion in
1:15:41.  Others include Kenyans Micah
Kogo, 25, Olympic bronze medalist in the 10,000 meters and a 10K best of 27:15;
Canadian Simon Bairu, 28, with 27:23 10,000 meter best and Ethiopian Bekana
Daba, 23, 2011 Houston Marathon winner and course record holder (2:07:04).

One second separated the 2010 masters
men’s winner forty-five year old Mbarak Hussein from Albuquerque, N.M., (34:38)
and Kenyan James Koskei (34:39), age 42. 
They both will be back this year. 
American running legends Bill Rodgers, 63, of Sherborn, Mass. and Frank
Shorter, also 63, of Boulder, Colo. will be joining the field.

Defending and eight-time champion, Craig
Blanchette, 43, of Battle Group, Wash., leads the men’s wheelchair field.  Challengers include two-time Falmouth winner
and course record holder (23:35 set in 2008), Krige Schabort, 47, from
Cedartown, Ga.; three-time Falmouth champion, Tony Nogueira, 43, from Glen
Ridge, N.J.; two-time Falmouth champ, Patrick Doak, 43, from Carlisle, Mass. and
Grant Berthiaume, 49, from Tuscon, Ariz.

Defending and four-time winner, Jessica
Galli, 27, from Savoy, Ill., leads the women’s wheelchair field.  She will be joined by Jacqui Kapinowski, 48,
from Point Pleasant, N.J. and fifteen year old Bridgette Wise from Pipersville,
Pa.

Prize
money totaling $116,400 will be paid to the top international and U.S.
finishers, an increase of $14,900 over 2010.  The
American prize prize purse is the largest outside a national championship with
the male and female prize totals of $22,350 each.  This total will equal the open male and female
prize purse with double-dipping allowed.  In addition, the New Balance Falmouth Road
Race male and female wheelchair prize purse has been increased to $4,250 each
from $2,500.

Elite Athlete
Lists and Bib Notes

            Elite athlete
lists as of Aug. 2 are attached to this release.  Overall males and females will have their
last name on their white bib.  Masters
males and females will have their last names on their yellow bibs and will have
a number on their back.  American
athletes will have USA on the left side of the bib.  Wheelchair athletes will wear a white bib
with their last name and a number on their helmet.  Athlete lists, including their biographicial
information, are now posted on the race website ‰ÛÓ www.falmouthroadrace.com.

About
Falmouth Road Race
            The
New Balance Falmouth Road Race was established in 1973 and has become one of
the premier running events of the summer season.  Each year the race draws an international field
of Olympians, elite athletes and recreational runners out to enjoy the scenic
7-mile seaside course.  The non-profit
Falmouth Road Race organization is dedicated to promoting health and fitness
for all in its community.  Proceeds from
the race each year support youth athletic programs in the town of Falmouth and
other nonprofit community groups.