By Meg Treat
Each year as summer nears its close, the streets of Falmouth become the stage for both elite athletes and everyday runners to test their skills and make memories. The spectacle is the ASICS Falmouth Road Race, an event steeped in tradition and revered by runners all over the world as a bucket-list race.
Yes, the race does include all that you would expect at a world-class running event: a starting line filled with anticipation, a course filled with water stations, cones, mile markers and cheering fans, and a triumphant finish line full of celebration. As runners traverse the route and spectators enjoy the sights, many are unaware of the true nature of the race: a fundraiser that impacts thousands of lives on Cape Cod and beyond.
The ASICS Falmouth Road Race is not unlike a gala, a silent auction or a bake sale. It is the signature fundraising event for Falmouth Road Race, Inc., the charitable organization that puts on the event each summer. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to support and promote local organizations with a specific focus on youth athletics and programming that promotes health and wellness. Led by lifelong residents, Falmouth business owners and other community figures, the organization’s efforts are rooted in and focused on creating a legacy of health and fitness right here in the city by the sea.
The impact of funds generated by the road race comes in many forms. Just a few weeks ago, the nonprofit awarded more than $100,000 in scholarships to local students. Recipients included 52 students from five local high schools, including Falmouth High School, Mashpee Middle-High School, Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School, Sturgis Charter Public School east campus and Avon Old Farms School.
In the past funds have been used to install a new track at Falmouth High School and a new floor in its fieldhouse, where the Falmouth Road Race Health & Fitness Expo is held each year. Dollars generated also helped to create a new playground at the Falmouth Recreation Department and provided equipment for the fitness room at the Falmouth Senior Center. Additionally, funding is used to provide grant awards, make donations to volunteer groups who support the race and sponsor local events.
Since 2011 Falmouth Road Race, Inc. has contributed more than $5.9 million to mission-aligned local projects and initiatives. As runners make their way down the same iconic seven-mile route that has been set before them for 53 years, locals can be assured that their impact will go far beyond the pounding of their shoes on the pavement during race weekend and will benefit the community for years to come.
In addition to the organization’s own fundraising efforts, other nonprofits have the chance to benefit from the road race. The Numbers for Nonprofits charity runner program, launched by former race co-director Rich Sherman, allows runners to take part in the road race by raising money for a Massachusetts-based charity.
Since launching in 2000, the Numbers for Nonprofits program has grown to include 225 different charity teams, and an average of 4,000 runners per year commit to fundraise for their chosen charity and then run the seven-mile course. Last year the program celebrated an exciting new milestone, bringing in more than $7.81 million, the highest fundraising number in its history. Since its inception, Numbers for Nonprofits has helped charity partners raise more than $71.54 million and bring awareness to their causes.
As presenting sponsors of the program, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund have hosted a team of runners for the vast majority of the program’s history. Each year, the organization has recruited an average of 325 charity runners for their team. Dana-Farber’s Falmouth Road Race team has raised more than $11.6 million since 2003.
Beyond charitable giving, the economic boost provided by the race is felt throughout Falmouth and the Cape. More than $16 million in estimated economic impact is generated by the event through purchases made at local businesses, lodging and overall tourism brought to Falmouth each year.
Through charitable giving, fundraising and supporting local businesses, the mark made by the ASICS Falmouth Road Race is one that creates positive ripples throughout the town, the region and the state that last a lifetime.