From 2007-2013, Brian Rusiecki was a major presence at the Vermont 50 as he rattled off seven straight top-10 finishes in the 50-mile race including championships in 2009, 2010, and 2012. After a two-year absence, he returned to the race Sunday, Sept. 25, in Brownsville, Vt., and found himself back in familiar territory battling at the front of the pack. Continue reading Massachusetts Residents Rusiecki, Princic Victorious in Vermont
Monthly Archives: September 2016
Teamwork, Resiliency Propel Team With A Vision Ultra Squad to Ragnar Finish Line
Excitement. Euphoria. Absolute exhaustion.
Emotions ran the gamut for the members of Team With A Vision and Team Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Saturday, Sept. 17, as they stood at the Ragnar Reach the Beach finish line at Hampton Beach, N.H.
“It was euphoria,” recalled Team With A Vision runner Brian Switzer. “I was just high on endorphins, lack of sleep and lack of food, and was so excited about being able to finish as a team.”
For the previous 30 hours the teams ran side-by-side, sharing every step and every moment together as they completed the 203-mile journey that began a day earlier at the Bretton Woods Ski Area.
Now, thanks to a collaboration between the Massachusetts Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired (MABVI), the CAA, and New Hampshire-based non-profit organization 2020 Vision Quest, the teams had made history. Continue reading Teamwork, Resiliency Propel Team With A Vision Ultra Squad to Ragnar Finish Line
Powerful Messages, Strong Performances Highlight the Free To Run Trail Races
A day of tough running on technical trails awaited runners as they gathered at the starting line Saturday morning, Sept. 17, at Pittsfield State Forest in Pittsfield, Mass., for the second annual Free to Run Trail Races.
The event, which was organized by the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS), included a 50-mile ultra, as well as a trail marathon and half marathon. Trail and ultrarunning opportunities are abundant throughout Massachusetts and greater New England, as many of the event’s participants know and appreciate. On this day, however, they were running to help provide similar opportunities for women and girls in other parts of the world where chances to run, hike, and explore the outdoors are limited or nonexistent. Continue reading Powerful Messages, Strong Performances Highlight the Free To Run Trail Races
MassUltra Roundup: Mogollon Monster, Run Rabbit Run, Barkley Fall Classic, Pisgah, Boulder Field, TNFEC, and Coastal
Massachusetts ultrarunners were all over the map last weekend, from the Southwest, to the Northeast, and America’s heartland. They even ran right here at home – although that will be covered in a separate article. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Mogollon Monster, Run Rabbit Run, Barkley Fall Classic, Pisgah, Boulder Field, TNFEC, and Coastal
Massachusetts Trio Part of First All-Visually Impaired Ragnar Reach the Beach Ultra Team
Ultrarunners are accustomed to overcoming a variety of obstacles during the course of endurance endeavors, be it technical terrain, inclement weather, physical limitations, self-doubt, or a myriad of other challenges.
Massachusetts residents Hannah DeFelice of Boston, Kyle Robidoux of Roxbury, and Brian Switzer of Easton, and their teammates, Randy Pierce of Nashua, N.H., Allison Lynch of New York City, and Jason Romero of Denver, Colo., were no different when they began the Reebok Ragnar Reach the Beach Relay this morning, Sept. 16, at the Bretton Woods Ski Area in New Hampshire. Continue reading Massachusetts Trio Part of First All-Visually Impaired Ragnar Reach the Beach Ultra Team
Flummerfelt, Spera are First from Massachusetts to Complete Tahoe 200
The third running of the Tahoe 200 Endurance Run, a 205.5-mile loop around Lake Tahoe, featured its very first Massachusetts finishers at the multi-day event which began Friday, Sept. 9, and concluded Tuesday, Sept. 13, when the 100-hour time limit expired. Continue reading Flummerfelt, Spera are First from Massachusetts to Complete Tahoe 200
MassUltra Roundup: Wasatch, Hallucination, Pine Creek, and Headlands
Wasatch Front 100
Tom Morton doesn’t shy away from grueling trail races. His list of finish lines achieved speaks for itself with names like Vermont, Leadville, UTMB, Bighorn, Eastern States, and Virgil Crest. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Wasatch, Hallucination, Pine Creek, and Headlands
Caron Sets New Standard at TARC Fall Classic
It took a record-setting performance to deny Patrick Caron the victory in the 50-mile race at the TARC Fall Classic in 2015.
Caron wouldn’t be denied the victory two years in a row. Continue reading Caron Sets New Standard at TARC Fall Classic
MassUltra Roundup: Last Man Standing, and Jay Peak
Quincy’s Damon is Last Woman Standing at “Last Man Standing” Ultramarathon
The inaugural Last Man Standing Ultramarathon was a battle of attrition Saturday, Sept. 3, at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine, as 111 runners toed the starting line of the approximately 4.2-mile loop course … and then they toed it again … and again … and again … on the hour, every hour, until no runner could complete the loop within the hour allotted for each loop. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Last Man Standing, and Jay Peak
Rusieckis, Fourcade Complete UTMB
The 2016 Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) was one of the hottest and most grueling on record, with more than 40 percent of the starting field falling by the wayside by the time the 46 1/2-hour time limit had expired.
Nearly 1,800 runners toed the starting line in Chamonix, France, and more than 730 dropped along the 170-kilometer (105.6-mile) course. Of the 1,468 runners who reached the finish line after conquering more than 32,000 feet of vertical gain and temperatures in the upper 80s, three finishers hailed from Massachusetts. Continue reading Rusieckis, Fourcade Complete UTMB
MassUltra 