Defending Champions Leonard Korir and Sharon Lokedi and U.S. Olympian Molly Seidel to Participate in the 49th Running of the Iconic 7-Mile Race on Sunday, August 15, 2021
Falmouth, MA (July 26, 2021) – Falmouth Road Race, Inc., organizers of the 49th Annual ASICS Falmouth Road Race, one of America’s premier running events of the summer season, today announced the men’s, women’s, and wheelchair open fields for this year’s race. Defending champions Leonard Korir and Sharon Lokedi lead an accomplished field of Olympians, World Champions and top Americans participating in the August 15, 2021 race.
WOMEN’S OPEN DIVISION
Lokedi, a Kenyan elite and 10-time All American at the University of Kansas, will race 2019 runner-up Sara Hall, who has won 11 U.S. national titles from the mile to the marathon. Hall recently finished sixth at the U.S. Olympic Trials 10,000m and won the AJC Peachtree Road Race, which hosted the National 10K Championships. The duo is joined by Edna Kiplagat, a Boston, London and New York City champion as well as a two-time World Athletics Marathon Championships gold medalist.
Twelve-time All American and NCAA DI 10,000m champion Emma Bates and 2021 Olympic marathoner Molly Seidel will also participate. Bates is gearing up for a fall marathon and Seidel will run, alongside her sister Isabel, as a post-Olympic celebration.
Accomplished women racing the leaders include Jordan Hasay, an 18-time All American and multiple podium finisher at the Boston and Chicago Marathons; former Falmouth champion and three-time Olympian Diane Nukuri; NCAA 10,000m champion Natosha Rogers; young talent Iveen Chepkemoi; Emily Durgin who finished runner-up at the AJC Peachtree Road Race with a 31:49 personal best, and Taylor Werner the recent USATF National 6K champion.
Many of the women in the field raced in the 5,000m and/or 10,000m at the recent U.S. Olympic Track Trials including Rogers, Durgin, Werner, Erika Kemp, Makena Morley, Jaci Smith, Fiona O’Keefe, and Paige Stoner.
MEN’S OPEN DIVISION
The 2019 podium of Leonard Korir, Stephen Sambu, and Edward Cheserek return. Korir, an Olympian, became the first American man to win the Falmouth Road Race since 1988. He has 10 USATF national titles and holds the fastest-ever marathon debut by an American (2:077:56).
Sambu looks to add an impressive fifth Falmouth Road Race title to his name. A road running star, Sambu set the 8K world record at the B.A.A. 10K, a race he has won twice. He is also a four-time champion of the Shamrock Shuffle. Edward Cheserek, the most decorated NCAA distance runner of all time with 17 NCAA Division I titles, ran for the University of Oregon. At Boston University in 2018, Cheserek ran the indoor mile in 3:49.44, which at that time was the second fastest indoor mile in history.
Chasing the trio are 2018 Falmouth Road Race champion and 2018 NCAA 10,000m winner Ben Flanagan, of Canada, and Ben True, who holds five national titles, set a 5K national record at the 2017 B.A.A. 5K and recently finished fourth in the 10,000m at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Fresh from a two second 1-2 finish at the 2021 AJC Peachtree Road Race, Sam Chelanga, a six-time USATF National Champion, and Fred Huxham are in the field, as are B.A.A. 10K champion David Bett, 2018 Falmouth runner-up Scott Fauble and top 5,000m runner Emmanuel Bor.
Many of the men running the ASICS Falmouth Road Race competed at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Track Trials including Korir, Chelanga, Bor, True, Biya Simbassa, Jacob Thomson and Frank Lara.
For complete ASICS Falmouth Road Race field lists: (link)
For additional biographical information on members of ASICS Falmouth Road Race elite field: (link)
WHEELCHAIR OPEN DIVISION
This year marks the 46th running of the wheelchair division at the Falmouth Road Race, sponsored by Spaulding Rehabilitation Cape Cod.
Leading the women’s wheelchair open field is Yen Hoang of Vancouver, WA. A 2019 graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Hoang participated in the 2014 and 2015 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships. In 2015 she was 4th in the 100m, and was 5th in the 400m, 800m, and 1,500m. In 2014 she finished 4th in the 100m and 5th in 400m, 800m, and 1,500m. This year she will be joining us before representing the U.S. at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
The men’s wheelchair open field is led by 2014 and 2015 champion James Senbeta, past winner of Grandma’s Marathon and who placed 9th at the 2014 Boston Marathon. In 2016 he represented the U.S. at the Paralympics. He is joined by five-time Falmouth Road Race champion, Tony Noguiera, who last won in 2016 and recorded four consecutive victories between 2002–2005. He has competed in the Falmouth Road Race at least 19 times, including three consecutive runner-up finishes from 2007-2009. He represented the U.S. in the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics and his homeland of Portugal in the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics. Nogueira has won 12 times at both the B.A.A. Half Marathon and the TD Beach to Beacon 10K.
For complete ASICS Falmouth Road Race Wheelchair Division field list, including bios: (link)
For more information, please visit www.falmouthroadrace.com, our on social media: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Falmouth Road Race, Inc.
The ASICS 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 and recreational runners out to enjoy the iconic 7-mile seaside course. The non-profit Falmouth Road Race organization is committed to promoting health and fitness through community programs and philanthropic giving.
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Media Inquiries:
Warren Greene: media@falmouthroadrace.com / (774) 392-4085