By Olivia dePunte
The legendary “Falmouth Five” crew of Michael Bennett, Tom Brannelly, Don Delinks, Ron Pokraka, and Brian Salzberg have gone down in Falmouth Road Race history as the only people to have run 40-plus Falmouth Road Races without a miss, starting from the very first one on a rainy Wednesday in 1973.
For Ron Pokraka, it all began at the old Brothers Four bar in Falmouth Heights, where he first met Tommy Leonard. “He wanted to start a world-class race here in Falmouth,” says Pokraka. “I said I don’t know what you’re smoking or drinking but I don’t think that will ever happen.”
The first race was midweek in a downpour, but spirits were high at the Brothers Four post-race celebration, with Tommy leading the charge. “Tommy was a great guy,” recalls Pokraka. “Whenever you talked to Tommy all he wanted to talk about was you. Even if you met him once for five minutes, 30 years later he’d still remember your name.”
Pokraka also met Brian Salzberg on that rainy Wednesday – “Now we’re life-long friends.” The two reunited every August since, a tradition that has held the test of time. At 83, Salzberg is the last of the Falmouth Five crossing the finish line of his 54th Falmouth Road Race this year.
“I ran the first 48 and retired,” explains Pokraka. He is content to cheer on his friend from the sidelines and continue the tradition of meeting up for their annual Monday night dinner after the race, where they reminisce about “the good ol’ days.”
Although he has hung up his running shoes, Pokraka keeps active with a rotation of tennis, golf, pickleball, and paddle tennis. “I’m healthy and happy,” says Pokraka, now 88. “I don’t run anymore to keep my longevity going, I want to live until I’m 100.”
It’s quite literally been a long run, but Pokraka now has a new generation of his family carrying the torch. For decades, he had a fan club of around 20 children, grandchildren, and friends all cheering him on around the 10K mark. This year, several members of his family will be running, while even more will be keeping up the morale from the crowds.
Running this year, Ron’s granddaughter, Abby Pokraka, is in the third generation of his family raised within the road race tradition. “I feel like road race weekend was always bigger than Christmas for us,” she explains. “This has been our Pokraka family reunion.”
The whole family has always found a way to be involved, whether it’s running, spectating, or volunteering. Abby even interned at the race office 10 years ago.
“I’ve run more Falmouth Road Races than any other race,” says Abby Pokraka. “I’m not a serious runner but it’s something I just keep coming back to because it’s such a big deal for the family. We’re all much older with our own lives and families and moved away but it’s a great time to reconnect.”
It’s even become a Pokraka family requirement: “I told my husband before we were engaged that he had to run the road race once to be a part of the family and he did,” she says. “Now we’re married and someday when we have kids they will too.”
“Grampy and his friends started it as a small group of people getting together on a weekday to run and now it’s evolved into a really big deal for the town and the country.”
And after more than five decades, Pokraka can finally admit that Tommy Leonard was onto something with his idea of creating a world-class race in Falmouth.
“Tommy proved me wrong,” says Pokraka. “It’s a world-class operation doing great work. I’m very impressed, I love everything they’ve done and they’ve set it up to outlive all of us.”