Old Sandwich Road Race Grows

Entrepreneur and ultra runner Craig Valentine Brenner wanted Plymouth to have a special road race. Something involving its history. Something unique.

The answer was under his feet.

Inspiration struck on one of his runs through Old Sandwich Road. Once a trail used by the Wampanoag Native Americans, the wide straight stretch of 5.6 miles later became the country’s first public road and a stagecoach route between the towns of Plymouth and Sandwich. The canopy of long-legged pines and oaks rises overhead. Underfoot, is the satisfying crunch of soft dirt.

“The majority of registrants when you ask them, ‘What makes this race interesting to you?’, they say the history and the surface of the road,” Brenner said. “You’re not going to find a surface like that – all dirt. It makes the race unique, and it’s very hard to find unique in the racing world.”

On June 4 and 5, the will run again, rain or shine. In its second year, the 2011 OSRR will host a 5K and five Kid’s Classic 1-Mile Races on Saturday and the Half Marathon and Entergy 10K on Sunday. The Half Marathon and 10K will start at the same time at different locations on Cape Cod Bay and both end at the track. 

There will be no parking at Ellisville Harbor State Park on the days of the races. Runners can park in the Plymouth South High School parking lot at 490 Long Pond Road and will be bussed to the starting lines.

All race profits will be donated to The Home for Little Wanderers' Baird Center in Plymouth. The school is a year-round residential and day school treatment program for boys aged 10-18 with a wide range of emotional, behavioral, educational and psychiatric issues.

Brenner hopes in the future to grow the event to a 5,000-person race to put Plymouth on the running map and draw more business to the area. Already this year there is an impressive list of runners from all over the world and 12 states, but despite the international attention, the winner in 2010 was homegrown. Chris Mahoney, a 1996 Plymouth South High School grad, won the inaugural Half Marathon with a finishing time of 1:16:53.  Brenner said Mahoney is returning to try and win again

“The kid from Plymouth,” he said. “No one seems able to beat him.”

Brenner also hopes to involve the Plymouth residents more. Fifteen volunteers helped during the 2010 OSRR, and this year, so far, the number has ballooned to 40. There will be nine water stops – an increase of five from last year – all manned by Boy Scouts – but there is additional work to do and help is needed. Anyone who wishes to volunteer may register at here.

If an individual or company is interested in sponsoring next year’s race, contact Brenner at (617) 680-4230, (617) 680-4230 or info@oldsandwichroadrace.com.

 “I would like Plymouth to see this as a day to come out support the community,” he said.