The Main Street Mile was started in 1982. The race was founded by the “Hard Core Mothers,” parents of Falmouth High School boys’ cross country team members coached by Tom Turkington. Avery Funkhouser, Shirley Cullinane, Marty Patrick, Muriel Farrell, and Rose Ghelfi envisioned a running event in which the whole family and runners of all ages and abilities could participate. They organized the race up through 1987, which was originally a fundraiser to help support the boy’s cross country team. In 1988, the Falmouth Track Club’s Helen Kennedy took over race directorship and she continued to provide leadership through 2002, when Steve Hamel took over for two years, followed by Dana DeLorme and Patti O’Brien, and then former club president Jack Carroll. The current race director is Creig Muscato.
The Main Street Mile was run early in September, usually the Sunday after Labor Day. Originally the course began at the Village Green, ran down Main Street, and ended at the Gus Canty Recreation Center. In 2005, a new one-mile course was introduced. As in the previous years, the race began at the Village Green and runners ran east down Main Street, but then they turned right onto Walker Street and finished at the beach parking lot on Surf Drive. The decision to change the course was based on safety concerns due to increased activity on Main Street.
In 2022, the race course moved from Main Street to Surf Drive, and the renamed Surf Drive Mile was shifted to occur in late May.
Families are encouraged to participate in the event, and many families return year after year. Runners come in all sizes and ages. In 2014, for example, the youngest and oldest finishers were 2 and 73 years of age. Multiple generations run the race, and some families pull in awards in every generation.