FALL RIVER, Mass. – Sean Blythe crafted a masterpiece of a performance for four loops of the 50K at the 10th edition of the Watuppa Trail Races on Saturday, May 11, at Watuppa Reservation. But the race goes for five loops, and the final trip through the course was a doozy for Blythe that required him to dig deep, battle hard and rediscover his mojo in the most unlikely of ways.

Blythe, 27, of Tiverton, R.I., and Joseph Bradshaw, 26, of New Bedford, Mass., tore off the starting line and matched each other nearly stride for stride during the first loop, completing it before all but two of the runners in the event’s 10K race. The duo roared back out for a second loop, sticking close together for most of the way before Blythe pulled ahead for a 95-second lead by the 20K mark. His second loop time – a scorching 41:23 – was the fastest lap of the day for any of the 35 finishers of the 50K.

After two laps of tight racing, Blythe finally enjoyed some breathing room. The entire course at Watuppa is runnable with rolling hills and good footing, the sort of terrain that tempts a runner to go fast. Blythe continued to push and added a few more minutes to his lead during the third and fourth loops. At that point, Bradshaw wasn’t sure if he would see Blythe again.

“After the second loop I lost sight of him pretty much the whole race until the end,” Bradshaw said. “I thought he was going to blow up at the end; he was going fast.”

With Blythe out of sight, Bradshaw focused on what he could control.

“I was just trying to stay consistent,” he said. “My goal was to not worry where I was at until the start of the fourth loop. I was actually feeling good through three loops, and then my fourth I was just trying to go as good as I could. I figured if I catch him, I catch him; if I don’t, I don’t.”

After ripping through his third loop in 43:33 – 11 seconds faster than his first, fatigue and dehydration caught up to Blythe during loop four. His pace slowed, but he still entered the final loop with a 5:06 lead. He needed every bit of it.

“Coming in from that fourth lap I started cramping up a little bit, so I just had to push through that,” Blythe said. “That last lap was slow going.”

Blythe’s legs felt like lead as he worked through the hills in the middle of the loop. He could sense his lead shrinking, and it was true; Bradshaw was closing fast. Blythe kept grinding onward, hoping his body would find a way through the weariness and his legs would kick back into gear.

He finally found his spark. Or, more specifically, his toe did, midway through the loop.

“I hit a rock at one point on this last lap and fell,” Blythe said. “I was like, ‘ah, this is the make or break part.’”

Blythe opted for “make.” After tumbling to the ground, he picked himself up, rubbed his quads and got moving again.

“It’s funny,” Blythe said. “After I fell, I got back in my groove. Once I got up I was like, ‘oh, I’ve got this now.’”

Blythe rode the adrenaline rush from the fall all the way to the finish line. He needed every bit of the boost because Bradshaw continued to close hard. The gap had shrunk steadily from five minutes to four, then three, closer and closer.

“Coming through the aid station for the last time they told me ‘he’s two minutes ahead of you,’” Bradshaw said. “I was like ‘no, he’s not. Why’d you tell me that? Because I was feeling it.’ I tried to pick it up and I couldn’t see him, couldn’t see him, and then toward the end I saw him. He started the race with a shirt on, and he had his shirt off so I wasn’t sure if it was him.”

Blythe was just far enough ahead that Bradshaw couldn’t finish reeling him in. Blythe dashed through the final stretch of singletrack, picked his way through the tree roots, emerged into the grassy field and crossed the finish line in 3:51:48. He barely had time to breathe before Bradshaw joined him at the finish.

After trailing by 5:06 entering the final loop, Bradshaw whittled away 4:25 of the deficit before running out of time. He finished in 3:52:29, a mere 41 seconds behind Blythe.

“He ran a really good race,” Blythe said of Bradshaw. “He stayed very consistent all the way through; I was just lucky I was able to hang on that last lap.”

For his part, Bradshaw was thrilled with the performance.

“I’m happy with it,” he said. “I PR’d by a lot!”

Blythe and Bradshaw’s barnburner of a race concluded with the pair turning in the third- and fourth-fastest times in event history. Only Massachusetts speedsters Michael Pulli (3:44:12 in 2019) and Will Swenson (3:44:55 in 2018) have gone faster on the course. Though Blythe and Bradshaw were the lone runners to dip below the 4-hour mark this year, their big performances came against a field that was stacked with speed on a course ideal for cranking out fast times. Jacob Carroll, 23, of Plymouth, Mass., spent the entire day in third place, and ultimately finished there. He was a minute off the pace after the first 10K, and four minutes off the lead after 20K before slipping further back. His time of 4:12:16 was the 11th-fastest men’s time in course history, just 3 seconds from the top 10.

Fourth-place finisher Ian Glavin, 24, of Orleans, Mass., also had a big day. He made his ultramarathon debut at Watuppa in 2023, finishing 11th in the men’s field in 5:25:16. He improved by nearly an hour this year, finishing in 4:29:54. Scott Deslongchamps, 54, of North Grosvenordale, Conn., was the fifth-place male and sixth overall finisher in 4:36:15, in his first appearance at Watuppa since finishing third in 2018 in 4:07:09. Donald Coletta, 21, of Branford, Conn., finished sixth in the men’s field in 4:43:19; he won the 2023 race in 4:11:20. The top 12 men all finished in less than 5 hours.

In the women’s race, Crystal Ross led from wire to wire and won comfortably in 4:33:33. Ross, 43, of Carver, Mass., had a 3 1/2-minute lead after 10K, expanded her advantage to 7 minutes by the 20K mark, and continued to pull away from there. Her dominant performance was the second-fastest women’s time in course history, trailing only Becca Pizzi’s 3:59:11 when she won the 2023 race outright.

Carver’s closest competitor was 23-year-old Gwenyth Taradash of North Dartmouth, Mass. Taradash ran steadily in second throughout the day and finished as the runner-up in 5:10:09. Following Ross’s lead, Taradash also earned a place on the all-time record board; her time was the seventh-fastest by a woman in event history. Hanna Littlefield, 32, of West Wareham, Mass., rounded out the women’s podium in 5:18:32. Amanda Littlefield, 35, of Swansea, Mass., was a distant fourth in 6:07:25, followed by Kim Gibson, 46, and Meghan Rogers, 38, both of Dartmouth, Mass., who ran together throughout the day and finished together in 6:23:52.

Hoff Makes a Statement with Strong 30K Performance

Thomas Hoff turned some heads at the 2023 Watuppa Trail Races when the then-16-year-old raced to a runner-up finish on a day where the winner set the course record. Now 17, Hoff, of Holbrook, Mass., returned to Watuppa but upped the distance to the 30K race and upped his position on the podium. Hoff led the three-loop race wire to wire and earned the overall victory among 19 finishers in 2:18:09. His performance was the fourth-best in event history. Jeffrey Wohlen, 44, of Lakeville, Mass., improved on his fourth-place finish a year ago by earning the runner-up spot in 2:31:32. Nelson Lopez, 35, of Fall River, Mass., earned the final spot on the men’s podium in 2:33:29. Lopez previously finished third in the men’s field and fourth overall at the 2022 Watuppa 30K. His time this year was a 28-minute improvement.

In the women’s field, Jacqueline Francisco and Teresa Firth spent the day running together or in close contact for the duration. Ultimately, the pair finished 1-2 and just 13 seconds apart. Francisco, 53, of Westport, Mass., crossed the line first in 2:47:11 and Firth, 60, of Fairhaven, Mass., followed close behind in 2:47:24. Karen Caddell, 61, of Plymouth, Mass., was third in 3:01:40.

Bailotti Repeats as 10K Champion

A year ago, Ademir Bailotti ran away from the field in the opening mile and cruised to victory by nearly 5 minutes in the Watuppa 10K race and smashed the course record in 38:05. This year, Bailotti faced closer competition and wasn’t quite as fast as his record-setting day, but the 38-year-old from Fall River, Mass., successfully defended his title in 39:00 and led all runners in the field of 62 finishers. His time was the second-fastest in course history behind his own record. Drew Appleton, 38, of Pawtucket, R.I., finished second in 40:04, good for fourth on the all-time list. Andrew Kamm, 39, of Virginia Beach, Va., was a distant third in 44:38.

In the women’s field, 44-year-old Andrea Milyko of Boston, Mass., earned the victory in 52:27, followed less than a minute later by 35-year-old Gizele Pacanha of Fall River, Mass., in 53:25. Francesca Spagnuolo, 21, of Shrewsbury, Mass., rounded out the women’s podium in 54:54.