Familiar faces brought home victories at the fourth annual Cape Cod Trail Race 50K on Sunday, April 9, at the Crane Wildlife Management Area in Falmouth, Mass.

Defending champions Rob Levey and Kara Spera reigned again as both turned in faster performances than in 2016 on a day that was picture-perfect for running with sunny skies, a light breeze and temperature around 50 degrees.

Levey, 42, of Somersworth, N.H., repeated as the overall champion as he navigated all five loops of the single- and doubletrack trail course in 4:20:11, nearly 15 minutes faster than he did in 2016 and about 26 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher. Meanwhile, Spera, 34, of Lynn, Mass., improved her time by more than three minutes, finished sixth overall in 5:25:20, and was the top female performer once again.

While Levey held his ground at the top of the podium for the second year in a row after a steady ascension (third in 2014; second in 2015), runner-up David Diriwachter is laying out a similar path. After a fourth-place overall finish in 2015 and fifth-place showing in 2016, the 47-year-old from Vineyard Haven, Mass., earned a second-place finish in 4:46:02. Brendan Chambers, 38, of Taunton, Mass., placed third in 4:53:43 in his Cape Cod 50K debut and was the final runner to finish in less than five hours.

Quinn Crawford and Humberto Silva rounded out the top five as Crawford, 26, of Brighton, Mass., finished fourth in 5:09:50, and Silva, 36, of Allston, Mass., placed fifth just ahead of Spera in 5:24:59.

Although Levey ran away with the men’s victory, a close battle played out for the top spot among the women. Spera, who in 2016 defeated the second-place woman by 22 minutes, held off runner-up Nancy Kleinrock by a four-minute margin. Kleinrock, 56, of Ithaca, N.Y., was seventh overall in 5:29:34. The third-place female and ninth overall finisher, 42-year-old Heather Barackman of Woburn, Mass., finished close behind in 5:31:26.

Other top-10 overall finishers included Matt Dibb, 36, of Hull, Mass., in eighth place (5:29:39) and Fran Curtis, 49, of Westminster, Mass., in 10^th place (5:35:11). 

In addition to the 50K, the event also included marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K distances and collectively played host to around 430 runners. Proceeds from the event benefitted the Martin Richard Foundation; Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s Children’s Integrative Therapies, Pain Management and Supportive Care program; the Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation; the Cape and Islands Police K-9 Relief Fund; and Calmer Choice.