Running loops of the Skyline Trail at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Mass., is a New England trail-running tradition that outdates the creation of the Trail Animals Running Club’s TARC Trail Series.

For years, runners from the region gathered to run loops of the Fells’ notorious 8-mile trail, scrambling up and down rocks, dancing through tangled webs of tree roots, and kicking up dirt and pine needles on the most forgiving spots along the way. In 2009, local trail-running innovator Bogie Dumitrescu turned the loops into annual Spring and Fall traditions, before they became a part of the inaugural TARC Trail Series in 2011. Though the Spring Fells Trail Race was soon retired, the Winter Fells Trail Race lives on. A format change in 2023 altered the distance offerings from the traditional 40-mile and 32-mile, five- and four-loop races, to a 32-mile ultra and a single-loop 8-miler. With that change came an appropriate rebranding: the TARC Winter Classic.

On Saturday, Dec. 7, the TARC Winter Classic closed out the 14th edition of the TARC Trail Series for the 13th time (the 2020 race was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and it offered so many of the familiar traits of prior years: classic cold weather, classic Skyline Trail, classic good vibes at the aid stations, and a few performances destined to be considered classics.

PHOTOS: Check out a full photo gallery of the race courtesy of Chris Arson Photography.

The sun was still rising when Race Director Patrick Caron welcomed a few dozen newcomers to the Trail Animal pack alongside several seasoned veterans for the 7 a.m. start of the 32-mile race. It was a chilly 26 degrees and cloudy with a breeze that dropped the feels-like temperature to a bitter 18 when Caron sent the 90 starters on their way. It would warm to a high of 36 by mid-afternoon, but the cold weather and tough terrain would lead just 68 of the runners to ultimately complete four loops, most within 10 hours.

The runners had paid $32 to run – a dollar per mile – and that investment got them a relentless course with plenty of rocks, and seemingly constant ups and downs as they followed the white blazes of the Skyline Trail. They had to be careful on a few patches of ice, but they benefited from mostly dry footing despite the wet weather earlier in the week.

In the men’s race, a tight pack stuck together early with Mat Ridley and Alex Lenail at the front, and 45-year-old Daniel Grip of Belchertown, Mass., close behind despite missing a few turns and having to backtrack. Several others were hot on Grip’s heels. The group pushed through the loop aggressively, and the top 12 men all rolled through the 8-mile checkpoint within a 5-minute window. Ridley and Lenail completed loop one in a speedy 1:09, followed closely by Grip in 1:10. The grouping of Natty Montoya, 36, of Manchester, Mass.; Robin Hewson, 34, of Lincoln, R.I.; Tilman Dette, 37, of Boston, Mass.; Simon Rufer, 26, of Cambridge, Mass.; and Alex Swenson, 24, of Bronxville, N.Y., led a massive chase pack as they finished the opening loop in 1:12. Matt Carbone, 41, of Melrose, Mass., and Patrick Sullivan followed in 1:13, and Austin Ditz, 35, of Medford, Mass., and Jordan Speer, 36, of Newburyport, Mass., were right behind in 1:14.

Several of the lead runners soon fell off the pace, having gone out too fast. Grip was steady, and he stuck to running the loop clockwise. Ridley and Lenail went counterclockwise, and by the end of their loops Grip had moved into the lead thanks to a 1:09 split, his fastest of the day. Lenail completed loop two in 1:13, but the 30-year-old from Cambridge, Mass., then dropped from the race. Ridley, 34, of Allston, Mass., faded to a 1:18 loop and dropped into fourth overall. Ditz surged into second after a 1:10 second loop split and Hewson moved into third after a 1:14 split. Carbone rounded out the top five in 2:29.

It’s difficult to run even splits for four loops on the bruising Skyline Trail, but consistency is always key to success at the Winter Classic. For Grip, he was nearly perfect for three loops (1:10, 1:09, 1:11), and he built enough of a cushion by that point that a 1:20 final loop allowed him to close out his victory comfortably. His winning time of 4:50 was the third-best four-loop time in event history. Only Caron (4:09:53, 2018) and Kyle Pietari (4:43:52, 2015) have gone faster.

Despite a strong 1:03 third loop, Hewson wasn’t quite able to reel Grip in, and he finished second in 5:02. Carbone climbed to third in 5:20, followed by Dette and Ditz who rounded out the top five together in 5:21. Graham Simon delivered a master class in consistency (1:23, 1:25, 1:20, 1:24), and the 30-year-old from Boston, Mass., climbed from well outside the top 10 after one loop to 10th at the midpoint, to ultimately place sixth in 5:32. Chris Connell, 29, and Tim Briggs, 35, both of Cambridge, Mass., were the next two finishers in 5:48 and 5:50, respectively. Ridley and Rufer rounded out the men’s top 10 in a tie at 5:54.

In the women’s race, the field shook out early and a clear picture came into focus by the midpoint in terms of how the podium might shake out. The main pressing question was whether the course record would survive. Camille Stubbe was the early leader with a speedy 1:12 opening loop, but the 28-year-old from Somerville, Mass., faded hard during loop two and ultimately dropped from the race after 24 miles. Meanwhile, Evelyn Needham completed the opening loop in 1:17. The 27-year-old from Boston, Mass., moved into the lead early during the second loop and never looked back. Xiali He was in third after loop one, just behind Needham in 1:18, but she fell back quickly. Annemarie Shoemaker, 37, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was fourth in 1:22, followed by the pack of Elizabeth Faye, Abby Wheeler and Emma Dixon moments apart.

Needham rattled off a 1:18 second loop and amassed a comfortable 15-minute lead that would continue to grow the rest of the way. Shoemaker settled into second with a 1:30 second loop, leaving Faye, Wheeler and Dixon to duel for the final podium position. 

Needham closed out the race with 1:28 and 1:33 splits on her final loops, and her winning time of 5:36 toppled the previous female course record of 5:50:20 set by Nora Weathers in 2018. It was Needham’s second victory in two appearances at TARC races. She won the 20-miler at the 2023 TARC Fall Classic.

Shoemaker joined Needham on the 32-mile podium as she finished second in 6:24, followed by Faye, 42, of Randolph, Mass., in 6:44. Wheeler (7:06), 26, of Boston, Mass., and Dixon (7:17), 29, of Dorchester, Mass., rounded out the top five, and He, 49, of Weston, Mass., was sixth in 7:24.

Slade Slays 8-Mile Course Record to Highlight Sub-Ultra Race

Kimberly Slade made a name for herself in New England on the soccer field as a high school standout and eventually as captain of the NCAA Division I Northeastern University Huskies. Slade began drafting a new chapter of her athletic history with a dynamite trail-running debut at the TARC Winter Classic. Slade, 29, of Boston, Mass., took on the single-loop, 8-mile race and wasted no time making her mark.

Slade ran strong and steady throughout. She amassed an early lead and never looked back, winning with a 15-minute cushion in 1:17:00 while placing ninth overall. Slade’s dominant effort also smashed the female course record of 1:32:17 that Jennifer LeFleur set in 2023.

Slade wasn’t the only runner to break the course record. Female runner-up Audrey Recupero, 38, of Malden, Mass., also clipped the prior mark by 17 seconds, finishing in 1:32:00. Like Slade, the race was Recupero’s TARC debut. Elizabeth Little, 49, of Bolton, Mass., rounded out the female podium in 1:43:00, followed by Allison Goding, 38, of Middletown, N.Y., and Elizabeth Santorella, 34, of Medford, Mass., both in 1:48:00.

In the male field, a close race played out for the duration with the top three all finishing within a 2-minute window. Patrick Caron’s course record (55:53, 2023) survived, but the top trio made strong efforts to try to break it. Former Massachusetts Institute of Technology cross country runner Reid Kovacs, 26, of Cambridge, Mass., pushed hard for the duration, fended off his closest competitors, and earned the victory in 1:00:10. Wes Traub improved upon his third-place finish at last year’s race as the 32-year-old from Brookline, Mass., ran 4 minutes faster and placed second in 1:02:00. Rounding out the male podium was Adam Ribeiro. The 33-year-old from Lowell, Mass., won the event’s 40-mile race in both 2021 and 2022 and finished fifth in the 32-miler in 2023. He was third in the 8-miler this year, just nine seconds behind Traub in 1:02:09. Other top performers included Tom Rachielles, 36, of Boston, Mass. (1:07:00); Michael Feeney, 34, of Dorchester, Mass. (1:09:00); Matthew Dinger, 37, of Newton, Mass. (1:12:00); and Jason Kaplan, 42, of Boston, Mass. (1:14:00).

In the nonbinary field, 44-year-old Z Porter of Roslindale, Mass., earned the top spot in 1:51:00, and 43-year-old Roslindale resident Stud Green followed in 2:22:00.

Mixed among the front-runners and first-timers were multiple families who ran together. Long-time Trail Animals Debra Galloway, 64, and Stephen Galloway, 61, ran the race together and the couple from Framingham, Mass., finished together in 2:32:00. Additionally, in what has become a tradition in recent years at TARC races, the Houlahan family from Newburyport, Mass. turned the race into a family trail adventure. Nick Houlahan, 45, Jenny Houlahan, 41, and daughters Sophie, 10, and Lucy, 8, completed the 8-mile race together in 2:47:00.

Fifty-three runners finished the 8-mile race, most within 3 hours.

PHOTOS: Check out a full photo gallery of the race courtesy of Chris Arson Photography.