This year’s official race poster commemorates both 250 years of American independence and 54 years of the Falmouth Road Race’s colorful history. Local artist Charlie Wright hid a number of “easter eggs” within the painting for people to discover. His poster features a slew of runners and wheelchair racers pushing up the first hill next to the Nobska Lighthouse – a cast of diverse characters that invites viewers to take a closer look. The runners and wheelchair racers might include “little odes” to the local legends and race icons that color Falmouth’s past, but that is up to the viewers to decide – “figuring it out is part of the fun!”
Wright hopes people will “explore the artwork,” discovering the details created through his distinctive blend of realism and whimsy grounded in the race’s past. His personal Falmouth roots trace back to the first road race in 1973, and he recalls first learning of it sitting around with his cousins at the Brother’s Four. As an artist even then, he noticed a college kid drawing beer bottles running along the beach. “He said it was a poster for a road race they were about to have, the Falmouth Marathon they called it back then,” Wright remembers. “It was to be a race from bar to bar.”
After the race’s first year, his cousin, the beloved Eddie Burke, became close friends with Falmouth Road Race Founder Tommy Leonard and one of his most valued volunteers. Eddie, who recently passed away in January 2026 at age 81, was a fixture of the race for over 40 years with his selfless dedication and a real spirit for volunteering. He helped to usher registered runners onto the buses and supervised the start and finish lines, doing it all with his characteristic gusto. “He got the excitement going with his bullhorn, and was always there with encouragement and jokes for the runners,” reflects Wright. Take a close look to spot Eddie’s iconic bullhorn in the poster.
From then on, Wright reserved the final weeks of each summer in Falmouth helping Eddie with the race. He volunteered for more than 25 years before eventually moving to Falmouth full-time to settle down and pursue his art career. His life-long connection to the race has now come full circle from spending summers volunteering with Eddie to honoring his cousin and many others’ legacies through his poster art.
Wright wanted the poster to celebrate both the people who have shaped the race over the years and the nation’s 250th anniversary. He emphasized the American flag and a red, white, and blue palette against the backdrop of Nobska Lighthouse; “the most iconic symbol of Falmouth.” He then created a detailed photo composition to size the lighthouse with the runners and wheelchair racers in front of it before beginning on the painting.
Dedicating over 60 hours on the poster, Wright researched, composed, and painted the idea to life with an abundance of attention to the finer details that he hopes runners will appreciate and take joy in exploring. More than six decades after watching the first race poster being sketched, Wright now leaves his own artistic mark on the Falmouth Road Race with its 54th official poster.
The original framed painting will be raffled off in a Sweepstakes to benefit Tommy’s Place, a Falmouth-based non-profit created to provide magical, cost-free vacation homes on Cape Cod for children fighting cancer and their families. Please click here to purchase a ticket to benefit Tommy’s Place and enter the Sweepstakes.
BY OLIVIA DEPUNTE