Brian Burke was a mystery when he first appeared at the Trail Animals Running Club’s TARC Summer Classic.

It was August 2018. Brand new to TARC and with just one ultra under his belt, Burke was an unknown commodity with untapped potential. He ran well and finished in 8:40:04, but what his time didn’t reveal was that Burke made a catastrophic wrong turn that added seven bonus miles and at least an extra hour of running before he finished. Burke still placed 10th overall out of 24 finishers, but his true talent remained hidden by the numbers.

Fast forward five years to Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, and Burke found himself back at the Summer Classic starting line at Noon Hill Reservation in Medfield, Mass. No longer an unknown on the trail and ultra scene, Burke is one of the most recognizable faces in New England ultrarunning as the ringleader of the popular trail-running social group Northeast Trail Crew, a frequent organizer of course preview runs before local races, and an enthusiastic recruiter of volunteers for ultras throughout the region, including TARC races. He has also amassed a resume of impressive performances, including more than 15 ultra podium finishes, and victories at the 2019 TARC Spring Classic 50K, 2019 TARC Fall Classic 50-miler, and the 2023 TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-hour ultra, just to name a few.

In his return to the Summer Classic, Burke added another win to his resume with a dominant 40-mile run on the most perfect day for racing in recent Summer Classic memory. With lows in the 60s, a high temperature in the low 70s, mild humidity and mostly dry trail conditions, Burke made quick work of his four laps of the 10-mile loop course.

Just two weeks removed from a ninth-place overall finish at the Waldo 100K in Oregon, Burke shook out his legs with a steady performance at Noon Hill. He pushed the pace on the first loop and quickly recovered from a wrong turn that didn’t derail his day. After a patient second loop where he maintained his lead, he opened the gap a bit more in loop three before pushing hard during the final 10 miles to close out the victory. Burke’s winning time of 6:33 was the fourth-fastest in course history and less than 11 minutes off the record of 6:22:55 set by Thomas Gennaro in 2017.

While Burke ran away with the victory at the 12th edition of the event, he wasn’t the lone runner to have a big day in the 40-mile race. A relative newcomer to ultrarunning, 30-year-old James Menousek of Holliston, Mass., built upon his ultra debut at the 2022 Mt. Tom 50K by completing his longest race ever with his best finish ever, placing second in 8:29. Menousek secured the runner-up position after pulling away from ultra veterans Joe Benoit and Michael Latham. Benoit, 57, of Worcester, Mass., placed third in 8:40 in what was his final tune-up race before making his 100-mile debut at the Wild Goose 100 in New Jersey on Sept. 23. Latham, 35, of Brockton, Mass., placed fourth in 8:55, earning his fifth Summer Classic 40-mile finish.

Joaquin Robles, 44, of Quincy, Mass., was fifth overall in 9:16, capping a strong TARC debut while earning his second ultra finish. Jason Kaplan, 39, of Brighton, Mass., was sixth in 9:23, earning his ninth ultra finish of the year. Three minutes later, 37-year-old Ian McLachlan of Watertown, Mass., secured seventh place in 9:26. Like Burke, McLachlan last ran the Summer Classic 40-miler in 2018 in what was his TARC debut.

Other men’s finishers were Kai Hoeffner, 42, of Cambridge, Mass. (10:26); Carter Sanders, 27, of Somerville, Mass. (10:31); David Sullivan, 48, of Milton, Mass. (11:07); and Jason Bacon, 52, of Pawtucket, R.I. (11:07). Bacon has been a regular presence at the Summer Classic since the event’s founding, completing the 50K seven times and the 40-miler twice.

In the women’s race, ultra veteran Maria Chevalier jumped to the 40-mile distance after completing the 50K during each of the two prior Summer Classics including a third-place finish in 2022. Already with three ultra finishes under her belt in 2023 – the TARC To Hale and Back 6-hour, Manchester 2 Monadnock 55-miler and Chesterfield Gorge 50-miler – and Ghost Train on her calendar in mid-October, Chevalier had another solid day on the trails at the Summer Classic and earned the win in 10:04.

Ali Everhart, 28, of Baltimore, Md., was the women’s runner-up in 10:17, followed by 32-year-old Darlene Gaudet of Pawtucket, R.I., who earned her first ultramarathon finish in 11:34.

Twenty runners started the 40-mile race and 14 ultimately finished within 12 hours.

Mir Makes a Splash in Ultra Debut

The 50K race marked the ultra debut for Harold Mir, and what a debut it was. Mir, 38, is a talented road runner whose accomplishments include a 2:50:33 finish at the Boston Marathon earlier this year. In his first ultra and TARC race, the 38-year-old from Peabody, Mass., took control early on the three-loop course and never looked back as he cruised to victory in a speedy 4:25. Mir won by well over an hour and also posted the second-fastest time in course history, trailing only Matt Veiga’s 4:10:05 from 2016.

Tyler Wasson, 39, of Everett, Mass., was a distant second in the 50K, finishing in 5:42. First-place female Joyce Zhou, 27, of Boston, Mass., was third overall in 6:12, followed a few minutes later by 51-year-old Yan Liu of Lexington, Mass., who was the third-place male in 6:16. Three more men finished the 50K in 6 1/2 hours or less, with 42-year-old Shane Thompson of Pembroke, Mass., placing fifth overall in 6:25, 38-year-old David D’Amore of Somerville, Mass., finishing sixth in 6:27, and 59-year-old Robin Dawson of Waltham, Mass., seventh in 6:30.

Joining Zhou on the women’s podium were eighth overall finisher Addison Sember and 10th overall finisher Katharina Kroll. Sember, 25, of Brookline, Mass., was the women’s runner-up in 6:31 while Kroll, 31, of Somerville, Mass., was third in 6:42. Rebecca Malkin, 31, of Charlestown, Mass., and Owusuaa Agayre, 32, of Hudson, Mass., were fourth and fifth in 7:02 and 7:05, respectively.

Of the 42 runners who started the 50K race, 37 finished within 11 hours.

Course Records Clipped, Tied in 10-Miler

Patrick Caron and Rachel Bainbridge set the course standards for the Summer Classic 10-miler at its inaugural running in 2022, Caron leading the men in 1:09:58 and Bainbridge topping the women’s field in 1:29. Caron returned for another run at the course in 2023, and the 26-year-old from Needham, Mass., clipped nearly two minutes off of his time while setting a new record of 1:08. David Catarius, 54, of Shrewsbury, Mass., had his latest stellar performance of the season and finished second in 1:19, followed by 30-year-old Marcin Stasiowski of Waltham, Mass., in 1:29.

In the women’s field, Bainbridge’s record stood – but just barely. She now has company atop the record board with Morgan Blevins. Blevins, 26, of Somerville, Mass., finished fourth overall and first in the women’s field by tying Bainbridge’s record of 1:29. Maeven Broderick, 24, of Foxboro, Mass., was second in 1:41, followed by Hannah Stoddard, 29, of Somerville, Mass., and Xiali He, 48, of Weston, Mass., who tied for third in 1:49.

Forty-one runners completed the 10-mile race. Included among the field was a family team of TARC veteran Jenny Houlahan, 40, of Newburyport, Mass., and her daughters Sophie, 9, and Lucy, 6, who tackled the race together and crossed the finish line as a group in 4:27.