The TARC Spring Classic isn’t the first event in the Trail Animals Running Club’s annual TARC Trail Series, but it holds a significant position in the lineup.

It isn’t cold or snowy, as the TARCtic Frozen Yeti often is. It isn’t scheduled during the trail-running shoulder season of March, like the To Hale and Back 6-Hour, which can be snow-packed, soggy or steamy, depending on the year. And unlike its fellow April event, the “Don’t Run Boston” 50K and 50-Mile Ultras, the Spring Classic offers inviting sub-ultra distances and actually marks its course.

Unlike the earlier events on the calendar, the TARC Spring Classic is the event that officially kicks the trail- and ultrarunning season into high gear in the greater Boston area. As such, a certain amount of pressure comes with organizing the Spring Classic and making sure it goes off without a hitch. There is tradition to uphold, and first-year race director Liv Colombo assumed the responsibility of making it happen this year. Fortunately for the Trail Animals, Colombo was up to the task and everything fell into place for the 13th edition of the event on Saturday, April 26, at the Jericho Woods in Weston, Mass.

The Spring Classic had everything that runners have come to expect since its inaugural year in 2011: a gathering of hundreds of runners with a family reunion vibe; tasty treats at the aid station smorgasbord; and many first-time trail-runners taking on their first race at 10K, half marathon, marathon and 50K distances. It also rained a lot, as has been the case at all but two or three Spring Classics ever. Runners can always count on soggy, muddy miles at the Spring Classic, and this one delivered in spades. In keeping with that tradition, timekeeper Norm Sheppard once again saw his timing mats submerged in puddles at the finish line while runners splashed over them.

The new RD even introduced a new tradition this year as Colombo hid a handful of tiny gnomes throughout the Jericho Woods. Any runner who recovered one could turn it in for a prize. Two of the mischievous gnomes avoided detection as runners hustled through the woods, dodging rocks and roots and sloshing through puddles.

All in all, it was a Spring Classic masterpiece.

The biggest performances came among the sub-ultra distances where course records fell in the half marathon and 10K.

In the half marathon, 24-year-old Callie Dittmar of Boulder, Colo., led from wire to wire with a dominating performance on the way to taking overall top honors in a field of 120 finishers within 4 1/2 hours. Dittmar’s winning time of 1:31:00 set a new nonbinary course record by 46 minutes.

While Dittmar ran with a comfortable lead, a close race played out a few minutes back among the top female runners as Michelle Boland, Breanna Glasgow, Emma Wawrzynek and Maxime Tiems all held down the remaining spots in the top five for the duration of the race. Boland and Glasgow were separated by just a handful of seconds at the halfway point with Boland, 38, of Burlington, Mass., ahead but Glasgow, 37, of Bedford, Mass., within eyesight. A similar tale played out three minutes back between Wawrzynek, 26, of Somerville, Mass., and Tiems, of Boston, Mass. All four runners pushed hard throughout, and all four ultimately broke Elizabeth Atwater’s female course record of 1:45:20 from 2023. Boland earned the victory and finished second overall with a new course record of 1:39:50, followed shortly by Glasgow in 1:40:36. In a close race for the final spot on the female podium, Wawrzynek finished in 1:43:43, just ahead of Tiems who crossed the line in 1:43:56. In the male field, 26-year-old Olaf Van De Langerijt of Boston, Mass., earned the victory while finishing sixth overall in 1:44:31. Timothy Blais, 43, of New Ipswich, N.H., and Brian Gilmore, 40, of Cambridge, Mass., rounded out the male podium in 1:46:07 and 1:43:35, respectively.

In the 10K race, both the female and nonbinary records fell. Fourth overall finisher Mallory Walker, 39, of Weston, Mass., topped the female field in 48:14 and set a new female course record with her performance. Xiali He, 49, of Weston, Mass., was a distant second in 56:56, followed closely by 26-year-old Mistaya Smith of Boston, Mass., in 57:09. Sofiya Saderholm, 26, of Framingham, Mass., finished 39th overall and set a new nonbinary record in 1:07:00. In the male field, 38-year-old Matthew Jennings of Sudbury, Mass., earned the victory in 44:30.9, missing Steve Levandosky’s male course record of 44:30.6 by less than one second while topping the field of 110 finishers. Jennings was followed by 36-year-old Dan Anastos of Boxford, Mass., in 45:07, and 34-year-old Alex Land of Bedford, Mass., in 47:18.

The course records were safe at the longer distances. Luke Legendre, 40, of Worcester, Mass., topped the marathon field in 3:35:59, outdistancing 32 other finishers. John Milne, 28, of Somerville, Mass., and Julien Gelly, 28, of Boston, Mass., rounded out the top three in 3:41:22 and 3:52:15. Elizabeth Ryan, 38, of Billerica, Mass., was fifth overall and first in the female field in 3:56:07. She was joined on the podium by Jessica Catlin, 37, of Weston, Mass. (5:52:37) and Jenehiry Meono, 20, of Lynn, Mass. (6:48:47).

In the 50K race, the front of the female field put on a show as Joyce Zhou and Katelyn Mueller went toe-to-toe. It was the ultramarathon debut for Mueller, 31, of Arlington, Mass., while Zhou, 29, of Boston, Mass., made her Spring Classic debut following success at other TARC races. She won the 2023 TARC Summer Classic 50K, and recently earned the overall victory at the TARC To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra in March. Both Zhou and Mueller ran in close contact throughout, but Zhou held on for the victory while finishing third overall in 4:39:29. Mueller was a close second in 4:43:16, caping a stellar debut performance. Ultra veteran Caitlin Sheasley, 37, of Concord, Mass., rounded out the female podium and finished fifth overall in 5:08:07.

In the male field, 29-year-old David Cowles of Bolton, Conn., earned a comfortable victory by more than 20 minutes. His time of 4:06:59 also led all of the 56 runners who finished the 50K within 8 hours. Michael Sage, 33, of Charlestown, Mass., was second in 4:27:23, and 37-year-old Michael Latham Jr., of Brockton, Mass., rounded out the male podium in 5:17:21. For Latham Jr., it was his fourth time finishing the Spring Classic 50K, his first podium finish in the event and a big personal record for the distance.

Up Next for the TARC Trail Series: The TARC Trail Series continues with the Wapack and Back 50-mile, 43-mile and 21.5-mle races on the Wapack Trail on Saturday, May. The 45-runner field for the 50- and 43-mile ultras will begin their out-and-back adventure at 5 a.m., at the base of Mt. Watatic in Ashburnham, Mass. The 80 runners who will take on a one-way trip through the Wapack Trail will begin at 9 a.m. at the Northern Terminus of the trail in Greenfield, N.H., and make the end-to-end journey back to Ashburnham. The event is sold out.