IPSWICH, Mass. – Roger Martell Jr. gazed across the field behind Paul F. Doyon School and watched as runners emerged from Willowdale State Forest, dashed across the open field and crossed the finish line of the inaugural TARC Stone Cat Trail Festival.

Martell made the same journey minutes earlier when he finished his half marathon. Now, standing with hands on his hips and sporting a red running singlet with the initials G.A.C. emblazoned across the chest in white, Martell inhaled the cool, crisp morning air and soaked up the atmosphere while catching his breath. As his heart rate settled, the smile across his face grew wide.

If you’d told Martell a year ago – or even six months ago – that he’d be standing here, having just crossed the finish line at Stone Cat, he wouldn’t have believed you.

“Not at all,” Martell said matter-of-factly.

To be fair, Martell was far from the only one who didn’t expect it. While this was the first edition of the event under management of the Trail Animals Running Club (TARC), it was the 22nd running of Stone Cat overall. The first 21 were organized by Gil’s Athletic Club – that’s the G.A.C. across Martell’s singlet – beginning on Nov. 10, 2001. The first 18 editions consisted of 50-mile and marathon distances, and the final three (2019, 2021 and 2022) merged the two races into a single 50K race.

Martell and his family were heavily involved with the event from the start. His father placed 10th in the inaugural Stone Cat marathon and was a constant presence as a volunteer in the decades that followed. Like so many New Englanders, Stone Cat was also Martell’s gateway to trail- and ultrarunning.

“This was my first marathon (2006), my first 50-miler (2007), and I’ve worked it every year after that,” said Martell, who would go on to complete numerous ultras including three 100-milers.

The 2022 race sold out quickly when G.A.C. announced it would be the final Stone Cat. Some runners wanted one last run on the course while many others wanted to make sure they didn’t miss their final chance to run a New England classic.

On Nov. 5, 2022, 188 runners took on the Stone Cat 50K, and then Race Director Chris Pulick and his crew of volunteers from G.A.C. cleared the course markings and packed up their equipment for the final time. Stone Cat was done.

Saving Stone Cat

The autumn leaves hadn’t yet finished falling at Willowdale State Forest when Patrick Caron began plotting to save Stone Cat. Since exploding onto the New England ultrarunning scene in 2015 as an 18-year-old, Caron has raced countless ultras throughout the region and won nearly all of them. Included among Caron’s feats are victories at G.A.C.’s now-retired Mother’s Day 6-Hour and its January Fat Ass 50K, but Stone Cat is absent from his resume.

“My initial reaction to the end of Stone Cat was similar to many in that I was sad to hear the news,” Caron said. “I had heard so many great things about the event and the history of it and I think so many people within the New England running community and beyond have ties and connections to the event. I have actually not gotten to race it myself so partially it was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got to save this event! I want to have the chance to run these trails … to run this race,’ while also seeing what it meant to everyone as well. That was the initial impetus to explore the option of trying to keep it going and keep the tradition alive.”

By mid-November 2022, Caron was already reaching out to Pulick to coordinate time to discuss what would be required to save Stone Cat.

“The question was more ‘What needs to happen to keep this going? I would love to see it continue,’” Caron recalled. “Sort of quickly the conversation became, ‘Well, we’re looking for new race organizers.’”

Caron brought the idea to the TARC leadership and obtained buy-in after agreeing to be the race director.

“Having been part of the TARC community and seeing that TARC has a great backing, a great community there, I felt like we could really get behind the event as an organization and keep it going and keep the tradition while also adding some new spins on things,” Caron said.

With Caron on board as the RD, planning for a Stone Cat revival began in earnest. Pulick and other G.A.C. members helped connect Caron with all of the different stakeholders for the event, including Paul F. Doyon Memorial School, Willowdale State Forest, the Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Ipswich Police and Fire. Caron mapped out a vision for the event, including the return of the original 50-mile and marathon distances and the addition of a few new ones – both longer and shorter options.

On July 14, Caron broke the news that Stone Cat was back. Eight days later, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 22, registration opened for the TARC Stone Cat Trail Festival, featuring a sampler platter of trail-running options including 100K and 50-mile ultras, a marathon, half marathon, 10K and youth fun run. The event sold out in a little more than a week, welcoming 550 entrants across all distances.

Martell was among the first to sign up.

“When it ended last year I was sad,” Martell said. “Then when we found out that TARC was going to take it over and Patrick was bringing it back, I signed up the first day because I didn’t want to be left out! I signed up right away at 11 a.m. I’m so happy it’s going to stay. It’s good for the community.”

A New Chapter Begins

Guided by the glow of headlamps, 105 runners departed the field behind the Paul F. Doyon School and entered the trails of Willowdale State Forest. It was 5 a.m., on Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023 – almost exactly one year to the day from what was supposed to be the final Stone Cat – and Stone Cat was officially underway. Eighteen runners took on the inaugural 100K race, consisting of five approximately 12.5-mile loops on singletrack and doubletrack trails through the forest; another 87 hoped to complete four loops in the 50-miler. Hundreds more runners toed the starting line in similar fashion in the hours that followed for the sub-ultra-distance races, and they were treated to a spectacular sunrise of fiery orange, pink and purple, that ultimately gave way to a comfortable day with thin cloud cover and temperatures in the mid-50s.

The event saw numerous familiar faces, including Gary Richards who earned his 11th Stone Cat finish in the marathon, as well as countless newcomers to Stone Cat, or to trail- and ultrarunning in general. Several G.A.C. singlets and T-shirts were scattered among the crowded starting lines, including Matthew Gilligan and Rebecca Hill in the marathon, and Martell, Mark Bentsen, Amy Morgan and Vicki Blais in the half marathon.

“That was really special to see all the G.A.C. shirts,” Caron said. “For me, the aspect of directing this event was fairly intimidating just because there is so much history to the event, and of course things change, things evolve, and that’s not a bad thing – that’s a good thing, but I also wanted to make sure I did the event justice. I felt the slight pressure of really wanting to produce a good event that new people to Stone Cat would enjoy but also people from past Stone Cat generations.”

While some participants added to their individual histories at Stone Cat on this day, others charted new territory. Course records were established in the three new events – 100K, half marathon and 10K – though the 50-mile and marathon records survived.

The 100K came in on the heavy side with runners logging a few extra miles and 5,500 feet of climbing, making it a steep challenge to overcome within the 14-hour time limit. Just six runners did so, led by a barn-burner performance from Lila Gaudrault. A year after smashing the women’s course record in the 50K, the 21-year-old from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, outdistanced the field by a wide margin and earned the overall victory in 10:49:42. It was Gaudrault’s seventh ultramarathon victory this season and third overall win. Her performance ranked as the 66th-fastest 100K effort by a woman in North America this year according to UltraRunning Magazine data.

Mat Ridley, 33, of Quincy, Mass., was second overall and first among the men in 12:07:45. Other 100K finishers included James Ehrets, 27, of Cambridge, Mass. (12:40:16); Kevin MacDonald, 32, of Revere, Mass. (12:45:39); Michael Obara, 47, of North Kingstown, R.I. (13:16:14); and Eli Converse, 29, of Cambridge, Mass. (13:33:24).

In the 50-mile race, 34-year-old Ryan Williams of Concord, Mass., steadily climbed throughout the day, working his way up from fifth after one loop into a tie for the lead with Matt Pacheco by the end of loop three. Williams ultimately earned the victory in 7:54:24, just ahead of Pacheco, 38, of South Hadley, Mass., who was the runner-up in 7:58:49. Sebastien Roulier, 49, of Sherbrooke, Quebec, spent the entire race in the top six and finished third in 8:32:07. In the women’s field, 28-year-old Jessica Finocchiaro of Cambridge, Mass., was in second after one loop before moving to the front and never looking back on her way to the win in 11:08:38. Serena Blacklow, 28, of Cambridge, Mass., was second in 11:30:01, and Janel Goodman, 50, of Scarborough, Maine, rounded out the podium in 12:35:47.

In the marathon, 31-year-old Ben Harris of Burlington, Vt., led the men’s race wire to wire and won in 3:44:39. He was joined on the podium by Will Swenson, 51, of Andover, Mass. (4:07:31), and Rene Karadakic, 31, of Cambridge, Mass. (4:13:01). Similar to Harris, 33-year-old Sarah Aponte of North Andover, Mass., led the women’s field from start to finish, winning in 4:29:30. Lisa Diiorio, 54, of Kents Hill, Maine, was second in 4:56:44, followed by Jennifer Sprague, 49, of Dover, N.H., in 5:04:29.

Course records were up for grabs in the inaugural Stone Cat half marathon, and both the men’s and women’s races came down to the wire. Just 37 seconds separated Lindsay Weigel and Maryna Yanovich in the women’s race with Weigel, 31, of Concord, N.H., winning in 1:48:22, and Yanovich, 35, of Cranston, R.I., finishing second in 1:48:59. Morgan Blevins, 26, of Somerville, Mass., finished third in 1:58:42. Three minutes separated the top three men with John Kinnee, 44, of West Townsend, Mass., taking the victory in 1:38:36, followed by Brian Smerkers, 37, of Somerville, Mass. (1:39:56), and Patrick Boyle, 30, of Medford, Mass. (1:41:38).

Just two runners completed the 10K race in less than one hour, and both performances set inaugural course records. David Catarius, 54, of Sherwsbury, Mass., topped the men’s field in 52:07 and Abigail Postlewaite, 24, of Watertown, Mass., led the women in 58:31. Lily Falk, 26, of Cambridge, Mass. (1:01:36), and Julie Wolf, 38, of Winchester, Mass. (1:04:49), were second and third in the women’s field while Tim Sannes, 42, of Acton, Mass. (1:02:52), and Jesse Gubb, 35, of Somerville, Mass. (1:03:05) rounded out the men’s podium. Jillian Mulligan, 26, of Boston, Mass., finished fifth overall and first in the nonbinary category in 1:02:53.

For his part, Martell finished in the middle of the pack in the half marathon, completing the course in 2:45:04. On this day, the finishing time wasn’t what was important to the 51-year-old from Beverly, Mass. Instead, Martell was simply happy to be there among the community, running trails, seeing old friends and making new ones. After all, that’s what Stone Cat has always been about.

“The best part about being out here… you meet so many nice people, so many friendly people,” he said. “I’ve probably met 10 people today; it’s nice. And everyone’s helpful out here. You need something, they’ll help you. It’s really nice. That’s what it’s all about. I’m glad it’s here, and I’m glad it’s here to stay.”