Coffee O Friday Night 5

Falmouth, MA, August 15, 2003

Tommy Leonard Turns 70 "Holy Cow"

It was one of the largest Coffee O Five fields of the year this week and the field was made up of runners from five different states. Fifty-five runners and half a dozen walkers crossed the line this Friday. Conspicuously absent was Tommy Leonard who was celebrating his 70th birthday elsewhere. Sixteen-year old Justin Ladner was trying to break 30 minutes for his first time and he couldn¹t have cut it any closer if he tried. He was well under pace at three miles but started to fade in the heat of the last two miles. It took a strong finishing sprint into Town Hall Square for him to achieve his goal and he crossed the line in just one second under 30 minutes. Ed Fitzmaurice, of Hyde Park New York, was the over-all winner as he unleashed a strong finishing kick of his own and passed Mr. Ladner with just a half a mile to go. Mr. Fitzmaurice had the misfortune of running his body temperature in last week¹s Falmouth Road Race. The veteran runner placed 108th over-all and ended up in an ice bath in the medical tent with a body temperature of 108 degrees. David Farrell and Big Tim Jones also recovered from treacherous ordeals of their own at last week¹s race and neither looked the worse for wear this week as they both trotted in at around seven minute per mile pace. Nanci Cahalane, who also had a fine run at in the Falmouth Road Race, won the women¹s race handily with a time of just over 34 minutes. Stace Beaulieu edged Mary Ryther by less then a minute for second and Kris Tholke and Kelley Ryan followed closely to take fourth and fifth respectively. The Coffee O Five is a weekly five mile run and 2.4 mile walk which is held every Friday night at Town Hall Square in Falmouth at 5:30PM. There is no entry fee for this self-timed race and all runners and walkers are welcome to participate.