WESTWOOD, Mass. – Trail-runners in Massachusetts just endured the coldest winter of the past decade in the Commonwealth, but they were welcomed into spring with an absolutely delightful day in the woods at the eighth running of the Trail Animals Running Club’s To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, March 22, at Hale Reservation.

A crowd of 155 runners gathered in the sun outside of Powisset Lodge in 35-degree temperatures that would climb to the low 50s in quick time before topping out at 60 by the time the finish line closed.

Thirty-four began at 8 a.m. sharp for the single-loop, 3.5-mile race. Five minutes later, the other 121 began their 6-hour ultramarathon adventure on the same loop course. Some circled the trail for a few hours and just a handful of loops, while others pushed hard for the duration and sought to maximize their miles on the most pleasant day of the year.

No runner was more steady than Joyce Zhou. The 29-year-old Boston resident stayed close to the front and spent the first four hours biding her time while others set the pace and ultimately wore down or ended their race early. All the while, she lingered within striking distance and ready to capitalize when the opportunity presented itself.

A tight trio of Ryan Pfenning, Aaron Meberg and Sean Blythe ripped through the opening loop in around 31 1/2 minutes with just seven seconds separating them. Zhou followed about 90 seconds back in fourth place. Blythe surged to the front during loop two and opened up a nearly 5-minute lead on the field after ripping a sub-30-minute loop – the fastest of the day for any 6-hour racer. After 7 miles, the 28-year-old from Tiverton, R.I., was comfortably ahead of Pfenning, 27, of Cambridge, Mass., and Meberg, 42, of Marshfield, Mass. Meanwhile, Zhou reeled both in early during loop two and remained in fourth, just 11 seconds behind Meberg, 29 seconds behind Pfenning, and 5 minutes behind Blythe.

Meberg faded fast during loop three and ultimately ended his race after four loops and 14 miles, making him the first runner that Zhou eclipsed. She hung right on Pfenning’s heels during the next few loops, keeping second place within her sights.

After six loops and 21 miles, Blythe remained in the lead with 3:18:08 expired, while Pfenning followed in 3:24:19 and Zhou in 3:28:33. By then, four more steady climbers – Brian Okum, Chris Stevenson, Dave Lane and Jade Bihua Zhang had all entered the hunt, just a few minutes behind the front-runners. Blythe still led comfortably, but not for much longer.

The hot pace of the first few hours caught up to Blythe during loop seven and he faded fast. Pfenning soon took over the top spot, and Zhou followed suit a few minutes later. After 24.5 miles and 4:00:53 of running, Pfenning was the new leader. His time at the top was short-lived, however. He stopped after loop seven, making Zhou the new leader as she began loop eight with Blythe 14 seconds behind her. After patiently waiting, Zhou had the lead and steadily added to it with each stride. Over the next 3.5 miles, she built a 7-minute cushion on the field while Okum, Stevenson and Zhang all moved into the top four. 

Though her pace slowed a bit during her final two loops, Zhou continued to pull away and ultimately earned the overall win with nine loops and 31.5 miles in 5:22:43. Not content with that mark, Zhou raced back out and attempted to squeeze in one final lap that would tie the female course record, but she finished slightly over the time limit so it didn’t count. Regardless, the victory made Zhou two-for-two in TARC ultras. She finished third overall and was the first-place female at the 2023 TARC Summer Classic 50K.

After starting the day outside of the top 10, Stevenson, 29, of Nashua, N.H., surged to second place overall and first in the male field in 5:39:29. Zhang, 45, of Belmont, Mass., was a similar story as she began outside the top 20 before ascending to third place overall and the female runner-up in 5:40:06. Okum, 33, of Medford, Mass., was a minute back in fourth overall and the male runner-up in 5:41:06. Blythe was fifth in 5:46:27, and Lane, 37, of Haverhill, Mass., was sixth in 5:47:29.

Nine runners ultimately completed nine loops within the time limit. In addition to the top six, Ryan Carroll, 47, of Plymouth, Mass., (5:48:26), Brian McClelland, 41, of Berlin, Mass. (5:51:56), and Jason Kaplan, 41, of Brighton, Mass. (5:58:13) also achieved the distance milestone for 50K finishes.

Another 14 finished eight loops and 28.0 miles, covering enough ground to earn ultramarathon credit. That group included Matthew Dibb, 44, of Scituate, Mass; Dave Dilorenzo, 52, of Arlington, Mass.; Shane Thompson, 43, of Pembroke, Mass.; Benoit Chavarie, 37, of Dracut, Mass.; Christopher Parker, 40, of North Andover, Mass.; Xiali He, 49, of Weston, Mass.; Chloe Heskett, 30, of Somerville, Mass.; Miki Sawada, 37, of Brighton, Mass.; Brent Ragar, 48, of Medford, Mass.; Shelby Johnson, 31, of Cambridge, Mass.; Li Sun 53, of Andover, Mass.; Jack Lieder, 24, of Brookline, Mass.; Sara Tannenbaum, 31, of Concord, N.H.; and Jacqueline Scanlon, 27, of Somerville, Mass.

York, Bainbridge Blitz Loop for 3.5-Mile Victories

While many of the runners in the 6-hour race enjoyed the warmth of the day as they clicked away the loops, those who ran the 3.5-mile race navigated their single loop in temperatures in the upper 30s. The chill didn’t deter the 34 runners who took part in the race, and it didn’t hamper Chris York and Rachel Bainbridge in particular.

York exploded from the starting line and immediately pulled away from the pack before turning off of the park road and onto the trail where he soon disappeared from sight. Bainbridge was the third runner into the woods, but she quickly moved into second place. The fast front-runners never looked back. York, 34, of Providence, R.I., tore through the loop in a sizzling 26:44 and took the outright win. Bainbridge, 38, of Concord, Mass., was a distant second overall and the first female finisher in 29:05. Brian Gilmore, 40, of Cambridge, Mass., followed in third place overall in 30:32, with 41-year-old Cory Rhoades of Needham, Mass., fourth in 30:53.

Madeline Weber, 38, of Needham, Mass., and Abby McCabe, 43, of Framingham, Mass., joined Bainbridge on the female podium in 32:21 and 34:06, respectively. Maxwell Hume, 37, of Dedham, Mass., topped the nonbinary field in 43:33.