Monthly Archives: May 2019

Columns

From the Editor’s Desk: In Choosing to Incite Rather than Inspire, Outside Commentary Fails the “Leave No Trace” Test

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Something special is happening in Missoula, Montana, and we’d all be well-served to read about it.

Sparked by conversations on several trail runs more than five years ago, the Montana Trail Crew (MTC) was born. In addition to organizing runs, the MTC’s primary mission is to promote trail stewardship within the Montana trail-running community, including trail building, trail maintenance and conservation work. It’s noble work that all of us who use and love trails and wild places should admire and attempt to emulate as best we can. Heck, it just might be a model that could be replicated in trail communities across the country.

Here’s a link to the MTC’s website where you can learn more about what they’re up to. I’d give you a link to the write-up about the organization in Outside Magazine, but unfortunately there’s not much to peruse. The columnist and his editors decided it wasn’t a story worth digging into, opting to bury it within a piece of clickbait instead. Continue reading From the Editor’s Desk: In Choosing to Incite Rather than Inspire, Outside Commentary Fails the “Leave No Trace” Test →

Roundup

MassUltra Roundup: Keys, Cruel Jewel, Massanutten, Manchester 2 Monadnock, and Mind the Ducks

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Lori Mitchener’s 100-mile debut was a dandy as the Lynnfield resident brought home a first-place finish from the Florida Keys. A half-dozen more New England residents endured the grueling Cruel Jewel 100-miler in Georgia, and six runners from the Bay State brought home finisher’s buckles from the Massanutten 100-miler in Virginia. In addition to those races, we have Manchester 2 Monadnock in New Hampshire and the Mind the Ducks 12-Hour Ultra from New York covered in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Keys, Cruel Jewel, Massanutten, Manchester 2 Monadnock, and Mind the Ducks →

durtyfeets

Karp Pulls Away Late for Win at Goat Hill; Fuller Tops Men’s Field

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For the fourth year in a row, “The Goat” presented a tough test to ultrarunners when MRA Multisport played host to the fourth annual durtyfeets Trail Run Series Goat Hill 50K on Saturday, May 18, in Uxbridge, Mass.

Seventeen runners accepted the challenge this year, and 12 ultimately completed all four trips around the eight-mile loop course on a sunny day where the temperature rose into the 70s. The race threw plenty of rocks and roots at the runners, but also mixed in some sections of smooth singletrack dirt. Along the way, they endured 1,000 feet of vertical gain per loop – 250 feet of it coming during the course of a quarter-mile climb courtesy of “The Goat.” Continue reading Karp Pulls Away Late for Win at Goat Hill; Fuller Tops Men’s Field →

Northeast Race Management

Pulli, Rushton Cruise to Wins at Watuppa

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Michael Pulli finished 2018 with a flourish, racing to victory at the rain-soaked Stone Cat 50-miler as well as runner-up finishes at the TARC Fall Classic 50K and the Fells Winter Ultra 32-miler.

Pulli waited until May to kick off his 2019 ultramarathon season, but the 42-year-old resident of Medford, Mass., raced like he was in mid-season form at the second annual Watuppa 50K and seventh annual Watuppa Trail Races on Sunday, May 19, at Watuppa Reservation in Fall River, Mass. Continue reading Pulli, Rushton Cruise to Wins at Watuppa →

TARC

After Chilly Spring, Warmth Returns for Wapack and Back

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After training through what has been an unseasonably cool spring, runners were granted a reprieve from the rain, clouds and dampness at the 13th annual Wapack and Back 50-mile, 43-mile and 21.5-mile trail races on Saturday, May 11, in Ashburnham, Mass.

After starting by the glow of headlamps at 5 a.m. at Mt. Watatic State Park, runners of the ultramarathon distances soon ditched their lights and endured the direct sun of a mostly clear day where the temperature rose into the 70s. Continue reading After Chilly Spring, Warmth Returns for Wapack and Back →

Roundup

MassUltra Roundup: Riverlands, Dawn to Dusk to Dawn, and Thunderbunny

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A handful of Massachusetts residents secured hard-earned finishes at the Riverlands 100 last weekend in Maine, including Andover’s Nate Combs who became one of just two runners to be three-time finishers of the race. Additionally, Cambridge resident Padraig Mullins brought home a victory in the 50K at Dawn to Dusk to Dawn in Tennessee; and another Massachusetts resident completed his first ultra at the Thunderbunny 50K in Ohio. All three races are included in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Riverlands, Dawn to Dusk to Dawn, and Thunderbunny →

Roundup

MassUltra Roundup: Bear Mountain, White Lake, Strolling Jim, Spring Fling, McDonald Forest, Grayson Highlands, and Chompawamsic Challenge

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From Patrick Caron’s 50-mile win on his birthday at The North Face Endurance Challenge’s event at Bear Mountain in New York, to Shannon Plesh’s first-place finish in the women’s field at the White Lake Ultras in New Hampshire, to Sarah Aponte’s winning effort at Strolling Jim in Tennessee, it was a weekend of big performances by Massachusetts ultrarunners at out-of-state races. This week’s roundup includes races in New York, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Connecticut, Oregon and Virginia. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Bear Mountain, White Lake, Strolling Jim, Spring Fling, McDonald Forest, Grayson Highlands, and Chompawamsic Challenge →