Tommy Leonard

Founder of the Falmouth Road Race, Bartender with Mileage on his Wheels

I’ve been running all my life and I’m 78 years old. The very first time I ever ran was when I was heading to an orphanage in Westfield, Mass. I didn’t want to leave my father’s side, but they finally coaxed me into the dining room with pancakes and maple syrup. I went back into the alcove where my father was sitting and he was gone. So I grabbed my worldly belongings, which was a shopping bag, and I leaped out the window and ran onto Route 20. It was the beginning of a snowstorm and I was up to my knees in snow. I was seven years old. I was heading the wrong way towards Pittsfield instead of Springfield.