Ekuom Takes First for Men, Currier Three-peats for Women
in the 32nd Annual Dunkin' Donuts Cape Cod Marathon;
New Balance 1- Habitat Team Captures the New Balance Marathon Relay

First-time Marathoner Mike Fisher Wins Cape Cod Marathon;
Westerling Takes Women's Race for Fourth Consecutive Year;
NER All-Stars repeat in New Balance Marathon Relay

Mary-Lynn Currier Breaks Women's Master's Record and Beats All Masters -- Men and Women!

FALMOUTH, Mass. Mike Fisher, 24, of Brookline, MA made an impressive marathon debut as he ran away with the men's championship with a time of 2:33:12 in a field of 1302 marathoners and 200 relay teams in the 31st Dunkin' Donuts Cape Cod Marathon and New Balance Relay. In the Women's race, Heidi Westerling, 27, of Acworth, NH won her fourth consecutive championship with her first place finish with a time of 2:50:45.

This year's Cape Cod Marathon was the first marathon Fisher had ever run. Going into the race, he hoped to finish in the top three to five. He said, "I feel great, the feeling was priceless, knowing I have the ability to run by myself for Boston. I knew I had to be conservative in the first half of the race to have energy for the hills. I figured I would be in a pack, but no one was around me so I took off. At mile 15 my legs tightened up, so I backed off my pace. The last five miles, I just had to hold on so no one would catch me." Fisher ran cross country and track at Newton South High School and at Boston University. He plans on running the Boston Marathon next spring.

Heidi Westerling continued her four year winning streak by running another brillant race. She had a commanding five minute lead over the women's second place finisher Mary-Lynn Currier of Canton CT, who had won Cape Cod twice in 1996 and '97 and finished third in 2004. Westerling said, "I knew I won the race when I turned the corner (of Walker and Main Street). I was nervous the whole time, when you run a marathon anything can happen out there, you can pull a muscle, get a cramp, you just have to stay positive the whole time." Westerling said she ran the Hartford half marathon a few weeks ago. She plans on running the Munson half marathon in three weeks. Westerling is a full time teacher in North Charlestown, NH. She runs 150 miles a week is engaged to be married next summer, and she and her fiancé are building a house. In April 2008, Westerling set a PR in the Olympic trials and then ran the Vermont City Marathon at the end of May.

Bryan Kovalsky age 29, of Peekskill, NY came in second overall in the race with a time of 2:38:56, and third place finisher Peter Richter, 35, of Norwell, MA had a time of 2:43:01.

In the women's race, runner-up Mary-Lynn Currier set a new master women's course record by over 2 minutes with a time of 2:55:10. In fact, she was the first master -- man or woman -- to finish! Three weeks earlier, Currier ran 2:52:53 at the Hartford Marathon - good for 5th overall and 1st in the Masters in the women's divisions.

Emily Kruger 23, of Quarryville, PA was third with a time of 3:05:33, and Sumner Fletcher 23 of Uxbridge, MA ran a 3:08:44 for fourth overall.

In the men's Master's race, 40-49, Jamie Kreider, 40, of Newton, MA, won his division with a time of 2:56:04; Calvin Ma, 40, of Cambridge, Ma was second ( 2:56:42); Ken Ross, 46, of Boston was third with a time of 2:56:48.

Sandra Parkinson, 41, of Falmouth, MA was second in the Women's master's (3:27:14), Yukiko Oba, 42. of Weymouth, MA (3:29:04) was third.

In the 16th Annual New Balance Marathon Relay, first place honors went to the New England Runner All-Stars with a time of 2:37:02. Second overall and first in the Mixed division was Margaret Bradley's Mixed Fish in 2:42:46. The top women's team was in women's senior division (age 50-59) -- Fitzy's Frisky Felines -- who ran 3:12:54. So it was a banner day for the New England Runner Magazine teams as they captured 2 of 3 divisional titles -- men and women!

900 in the marathon and 191 relay teams finished. Runners came from 40 states, 2 provinces of Canada and Bermuda, Romania, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, Japan.

As has happened so often in its 31-year history, the 2008 edition of the marathon and relay dodged another nasty weather bullet! Saturday night, an intense, but fast-moving weather front, came through Falmouth and eastern New England. It bought with it high winds, with gusts to 60 mph, and torrential rains. Trees and power lines went down. At 4:00 am, Race Director Courtney Bird awoke to pounding rain, no electricity, and driving rain beating on his windows. In his yard, 26 members of the Pittsfield, MA High School Cross Country Team, which had four teams entered in the relay, plus their coaches and parent chaperones, were huddled in tents that were straining against the wind and pouring rain. But then it abruptly stopped. At about 5:30 am the rain ended, the wind died down and it became calm. By 6:00 am when the volunteers began setting up the start and finish area, only intermittent drizzle remained. But downed trees and power lines blocked the course at several points. Emergency crews were already at work cleaning up and restoring power.

By the 8:30 start time, it was overcast with some fog and was calm. The temperature was 62°, and that temperature remained constant for all of the race. As the CCM progressed, the weather steadily improved, and by 10:00 am when the first runners were in the final miles, the sun began to poke its way out of the clouds and crowds of spectators began to line Main Street.

Dunkin' Donuts is the title sponsor of the event and New Balance Mashpee is the title sponsor of the relay. In addition, 20 other businesses provided sponsorship support. The Falmouth Track Club organizes the the marathon, utilizing a 30-person marathon committee and drawing on the support of more than 750 volunteers.

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