One of the true privileges I’ve enjoyed during my dozen years as a trail-runner has been the opportunity to share the trails with so many wonderful people. It began with my earliest runs on the dirt in Kansas City, a know-nothing newbie weaving through the trees and hopping over rocks and roots alongside far more experienced runners who chatted away about the 50-mile and 100-mile races at Rocky Raccoon that they were training for. In the weeks and months that followed, they educated me on all sorts of things, from hydration systems to consider, to which week it would grow dark enough that I should start bringing a headlamp, to other trails in the area I should explore.
Continue reading From the Editor’s Desk: Log Off and Lace Up to Reconnect in 2022Monthly Archives: December 2021
MassUltra Roundup: Woodside Ramble, Naked Nick, Sawmill, and Jupiter Ridge
The 2021 ultrarunning season is rapidly coming to a close. Days have grown shorter, and race calendars have, too. Only a handful of ultras remain on the slate between now and the new year. Light racing has taken place during the first few weekends of December, but a handful of runners from the region have made their way to starting lines around the country. That includes Cambridge resident Alexander Lenail, whose busy December included racing locally at the Fells Winter Ultra before heading to California and turning in a strong showing at the Woodside Ramble 50K. His performance leads off this edition of the roundup.
Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Woodside Ramble, Naked Nick, Sawmill, and Jupiter Ridge
Traer Torches the Track, Takes 3rd at Desert Solstice
Since emerging on the Massachusetts ultrarunning scene a decade ago, Scott Traer has established himself as a fierce competitor and dominant performer on any surface. Be it technical singletrack that’s New England gnarly, an easy-running rail trail, pavement or track, the 40-year-old doesn’t pass on an opportunity to push his limits and find out what he can achieve. That approach has led him to amass at least 14 ultramarathon victories, set multiple course records, and earn outright wins at the 2015 Vermont 100 and the 2021 Hennepin Hundred.
Continue reading Traer Torches the Track, Takes 3rd at Desert Solstice
2022 CCFFA 50K will Once Again be Virtual
The Cape Cod Frozen Fatass 50K/25K will be back for its 16th edition in 2022, and for the second year it will be held as a virtual event.
Continue reading 2022 CCFFA 50K will Once Again be Virtual
G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K Set to Return in 2022
For just the third time in event history, the G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K was canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the event’s founding in 1998, it had only been canceled twice before, in 2004 and 2018, both times due to inclement weather.
Continue reading G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K Set to Return in 2022
TARC Fells Winter Ultra Returns with Spirited Racing
The Trail Animals Running Club typically has evaded early-winter hibernation with the annual running of the Fells Winter Ultra during the first weekend of December at the Middlesex Fells Reservation. That wasn’t the case in 2020, however; the club was forced to cancel the event as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the trail ultrarunning schedule locally and globally.
The Fells Winter Ultra made its return on Saturday, Dec. 4, as runners once again flocked to the trailhead in Stoneham, Mass., to tackle four or five loops of the reservation’s rocky and rugged Skyline Trail in 32- and 40-mile races.
Continue reading TARC Fells Winter Ultra Returns with Spirited RacingMassUltra Roundup: Devil Dog, McDowell Mountain, Brazos Bend, and Dead Horse
Winter is nearly upon us, and the 2021 ultramarathon season is rapidly coming to a close. The first weekend of December saw far fewer races than in recent months, and although most New England residents who raced during the Dec. 4-5 weekend opted to stay local at the Fells Winter Ultra in Stoneham, Mass., a handful headed out of state to race. That included Graham Simon who delivered a dandy of a performance in his first 100-mile race at the Devil Dog Ultras in Virginia. His strong performance leads off this week’s roundup.
Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Devil Dog, McDowell Mountain, Brazos Bend, and Dead HorseResults: TARC Fells Winter Ultra
The Trail Animals Running Club played host to its annual running of the Fells Winter Ultra on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Mass. Runners tackled either four or five 8-mile loops of the Skyline Trail in 32-mile and 40-mile trail ultramarathons.
Continue reading Results: TARC Fells Winter Ultra
MassUltra 