Falmouth Road Race 2025: Closures, Runners And More Ahead Of Race Weekend

FALMOUTH, MA — The Falmouth Road Race returns this weekend with a list of big-name runners and a milestone anniversary for the race's 53rd annual event.

Race day is Sunday, with the first runners going at 9 a.m. The 23rd annual SBLI Family Fun Run is scheduled for Saturday.

The Falmouth Track Festival is also happening again this year, scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. This year's festival again includes both the high school mile and elite mile races.

Elite Runners

Past champions and global legends will flock to Cape Cod this weekend for the annual event. Event organizers announced the professional fields for the 53rd running of the annual seven-mile race this week.

Two of the most decorated distance runners in history highlight the list of elite women who will vie for victory on Sunday. Kenyans Edna Kiplagat, the 2021 Falmouth champion, and Vivian Cheruiyot, a four-time Olympic medalist, will both line up at the Captain Kidd in Woods Hole.

In the men’s race, course record holder Wesley Kiptoo makes his Falmouth return. Kiptoo has had a busy year. In 2025, he has won the Gate River 15K in March and has since scored top-five finishes at the New York City Half Marathon, Pittsburgh Half Marathon, Boston 10K and the Boilermaker 15K. In 2023, Kiptoo tied Gilbert Okari’s 2004 Falmouth course record of 31:08.

In 2025, the Kenyan will look to claim the record all to himself.

Kiptoo will have to hold off up-and-coming fellow Kenyan Patrick Kiprop. The recent Arkansas grad won last month’s AJC Peachtree Road Race 10k in Atlanta in convincing fashion, leading from start to finish.

Biya Simbassa, the fourth fastest American marathoner in history, returns this year. He was runner-up here in 2021 and 2022. Other top contenders include Zouhair Talbi, a 2024 Olympian representing Morocco. He became an American citizen earlier this year.

Two-time U.S. champion Ahmed Muhumed, Eritrean steeplechase record-holder Yemane Haileselassie and U.S. Marathon standout Zach Panning also look to be in the mix for the win.

The race will also mark the road debut of three-time NCAA champion Dylan Jacobs. Jacobs won a Distance Medley Relay and 10,000m title while competing at Notre Dame. He won the 5,000m indoor title while at the University of Tennessee.

Collin Bennie, Zach Panning and Frank Lara are among the other top American men in the field.

50 Years of Wheelchair

This year marks's the 50th anniversary of wheelchair racing at the Falmouth Road Race.

Five-time Falmouth winners Tatyana McFadden and Daniel Romanchuk will headline the professional field for the 50th running of the ASICS Falmouth Road Race wheelchair division.

For McFadden, it marks a return to Cape Cod for the first time since 2022. Both McFadden and Romanchuk did not compete last year as both were in Paris competing in the Paralympic Games.

McFadden will face 2024 ASICS Falmouth Road Race champion Hoda Eishorbagy. Last year, Eishorbagy became the first Egyptian athlete to win any division in Falmouth with her dominant victory.

Nigerian Paralympian Hannah Babalola comes to Falmouth for a sixth time. She has placed third here for the past two years and was runner-up in 2017. Also in the field is young Falmouth veteran and Auburn, Mass. native Maddie Wilson. She’s finished fourth here three times, including last year.

Romanchuk will not only attempt to claim his sixth Falmouth title, but also look to better his course record of 21:23 set here in 2023. Romanchuk, 27, has been coming to Falmouth since 2013, then just 15 years old.

Last year’s winner Miguel Jimenez-Vergara will look to spoil the celebration for Romanchuk. The Californian looked dominant at the Boilermaker 15K in Utica, N.Y. last month. He was runner-up to Romanchuk in 2023. Also returning is 2021 Falmouth champion Hermin Garic. In his 10 Falmouth appearances, Garic has finished on the podium six times. Jenya Senbeta, the 2015 and 2022 runner-up returns as well.

The race will also showcase the long-time legends and the future of the sport. Tony Noguiera, 57, and Krige Schabort, 61, both five-time Falmouth champions, will make their 19th and 12th Falmouth starts, respectively. Harry Houng-Lee, an Australian training in New York City will make his Falmouth debut at the age of 12. Houng-Lee is part of the New York Road Runners Rising Wheelchair Training Program. He won eight gold medals at the Move United Junior Nationals last year.

16-year-old Colton Robinson, a high school standout from West Springfield, Mass. will be competing in his first-ever road race in Falmouth while 19-year-old Delmace Mayo of Jamaica Plain, Mass. will look to improve upon his seventh-place finish here last year.

Canadian Paralympic legend Josh Cassidy will return to Falmouth for the first time since finishing third here in 2017. Valera Jacob-Allen comes back after debuting with a fourth-place finish here last year.

Road Closures

As in years past, the Falmouth Police Department has published a comprehensive guide for road closures on race day. It is included, in full, below:

Woods Hole (Starting Line Area)

• Road Closures
  • Water Street, School Street, Albatross Street, MBL Street, North Street, Millfield Street, and Quissett Avenue (between Millfield Street and Harbor Hill Road) will be closed to vehicle traffic at 5:00 am until about 10 am – no access.
  • Woods Hole Road, between Harbor Hill Road and Water Street/Crane Street, will be closed from 5 am until about 10 am. (see below for ferry terminal access)
  • Quissett Avenue, between Harbor Hill Road and Quissett Harbor Road, will have limited access from 5 am until about 10 am.
  • Woods Hole – Road Closure Map

Other

• Woods Hole Ferry Terminal- Access to and from the Woods Hole Ferry Terminal will be limited until about 8 am and closed completely until about 10 am. All inbound vehicles will be stopped at Woods Hole Rd. & Harbor Hill Rd. to be screened. Vehicles without a Steamship Authority vehicle reservation will be denied access to the ferry terminal. Outbound ferry terminal traffic will be allowed until about 8 am.
• Woods Hole Dock Access- Private and commercial boats will be restricted from accessing the Eel Pond Bridge Dock on Water Street and the Commercial Fishing Dock on Albatross Street from 5:00 am to 10:00 am.

Falmouth Heights (Finish Line Area)

• Road Closures
  • Grand Avenue will be closed from Walden Avenue to Worcester Court at 4:00 am and reopen later in the afternoon (est. 2 pm).
  • Several streets in Falmouth Heights (see map below) will close at 5 am and stay closed long enough for runners to clear the finish line, and for crews to properly clean up the area. Limited access to Falmouth Heights residences may be granted until the race starts–proof of residency will be required.
  • Falmouth Heights – Road Closure Map

Falmouth

• Road Closures
  • All other roads along the race route leading from Woods Hole to Falmouth Heights will be closed to ALL vehicular traffic at approximately 8:00 am and reopened soon after the last runner has passed.
  • Falmouth Road Race Course Map