Rain, wind, and chilly temperatures didn’t derail the inaugural Fall Frolic 8-Hour Ultra. Instead, the conditions simply added to the challenge of running a loop course through the woods for hours on end.
The event, which took place on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass., was organized by TA Fitness, or Team Awesome Fit, which has gyms in Weymouth and Plymouth that offer training for running, rock climbing, ninja warrior competitions, and obstacle course racing for adults and youth. Though this was the inaugural year for the Fall Frolic, it wasn’t the first time TA Fitness has put on a trail race. TA Fitness has played host to the Spring Fever 8-Hour, 5-mile and 5K trail races at Wompatuck State Park in April each year since 2023. One of the twists with the Fall Frolic–beyond taking place in a different season–was that it offered a different course and distance. The Fall Frolic course was an approximately 4-mile loop. In addition to the time-specific 8-hour race, it also offered an 8-hour last person standing format event that offered runners an introduction to the backyard ultra-style format that is surging in popularity.
Twenty-seven runners took part in the 8-hour race, and nine of them completed at least seven loops of the course to achieve ultramarathon mileage within the time limit. Nobody had a bigger performance than Jacob Arnstein. Though he had never completed an ultramarathon prior to race day, the 20-year-old from Holbrook, Mass., handled the wet conditions just fine and hammered out nine loops for 36 miles and the overall win. He was joined on the male podium by runner-up Cassidy Thomas, 30, of Lowell, Mass., who also was a first-time ultrarunner with 32 miles. Additionally, four men tied for third in total mileage with 28 miles apiece. They were Zeljko Vinovrski, 54, of Braintree, Mass.; Eric Sullivan, 26, of Norwich, Conn; Brady Downing, 17, of Middleton, N.H., and Todd M., 32, of Chester, Va.
In the female field, 60-year-old Libbi Gaiser of Hull, Mass., earned the victory with eight loops and 32 miles. Gaiser raced a Wompatuck two weeks earlier when she completed the Womp Romp 50K. She was joined on the podium by second- and third-place finishers Kelly Benedetti, 48, of Middleton, N.H., and Margaret Mikailov, 26, of Nashau, N.H., who completed 28 miles apiece.
Eight runners took part in the last person standing event, and five of them lasted for the duration. Wolfgang Morlock, 23, of Rindge, NH; Emmett McCarthy, 13, of Scituate, Mass.; Clayton Dumais, 15, of Boylston, Mass.; London Sinclair, 21; and Michael Hershelman, 26, of Watertown, Mass.; tied for the win with eight hours and 32 miles apiece.
The event also offered a single-loop 4-mile race, though results of that race were unavailable at the time of publication.
