All posts by Chris Wristen

Founder and Editor of MassUltra.com

MassUltra Roundup: Tower Tag and Krampuslauf

The TARC Winter Classic was the place to be for ultrarunners in Massachusetts during the Dec. 6-8 weekend, but there was plenty of ultra action throughout New England with tough ultras and lots of climbing. The inaugural Tower Tag Challenge in Connecticut and the Krampuslauf 9-hour in New Hampshire take the spotlight in Part I of this week’s roundup.

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Lottery Luck Sends 7 New Englanders Into Hardrock 100 Starting Field

The Hardrock 100 Endurance Run lottery gods smiled on Denise Klatt a year ago, and she took full advantage of the opportunity by completing the rugged high-altitude ultramarathon on her first attempt. The lottery gods were once again good to Klatt – along with six other New Englanders – whose names were selected for the starting field of the 2025 race during the Hardrock lottery on Saturday, Dec. 7. Eight more were selected for the waitlist.

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6 New Englanders Selected for Starting Field in Western States Lottery

The 2025 Western States Endurance Run isn’t until June 28, but the journey to the starting line of the 49th running of the historic 100-miler began Saturday, Dec. 7, for six New England residents whose names were drawn in the Western States lottery.

Joseph D’Alessio, Patrick McEnaney, Lance Doherty and Christopher Lay of Massachusetts, Austin Black of New Hampshire, and Yuichiro Hidaka of Rhode Island were among the lucky few selected for one of ultrarunning’s most exclusive events.

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MassUltra Roundup: Squatchy Leftovers and Quad Dipsea

All was quiet on the ultrarunning scene in New England during the post-Thanksgiving weekend, save for personal ambitions to log big miles after enjoying a feast. Two runners from the region ventured outside New England to toe the starting line of ultramarathons, though, with one on each coast. Those efforts make for some light reading in the Nov. 29-Dec. 1 weekend roundup.

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MassUltra Roundup: JFK 50, Fall Fling 400, and Fat Ox

It was a head-spinning Nov. 22-24 weekend at the historic JFK 50, and a New Englander was at the heart of it all. Vermont’s David Sinclair smashed the course record by a large margin, while fellow Vermonter Britta Clark notched a top-five finish in the women’s field. Beyond and its 1,100-plus field of runners, New Englanders took to the trails at the CT Trailmixers’ Fall Fling 400 in nearby Connecticut, and a few others logged big miles in Arizona at the Fat Ox. Read on for more in this pre-Thanksgiving appetizer edition of the roundup.

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MassUltra Roundup: NYC Trail Mix, Dead Horse, Mt. Tam, and Mountain Mama Farms Classic

It isn’t yet Thanksgiving, but New England ultrarunners spent the Nov. 15-17 weekend preparing for the big feast by banging out plenty of miles. More than 100 did so at the Trail Animals Running Club’s annual TARCkey Trot 6-hour ultra in Massachusetts, but several more runners from the region opted for other events. A few in Connecticut packed on the calories at the CT Donut Run 31.5-miler, though results from that delicious event were unavailable at the time of publication. Others raced ultras in New York, Utah, California and Georgia. We have highlights from those events in this edition of the roundup.

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Runners Capitalize on Drought Conditions with Big Performances at TARCkey Trot

WINCHESTER, Mass. – Months of drought have ravaged Massachusetts from the Berkshires to the bay. Hundreds of wildfires have scorched fields and forests, and many bodies of water have shrunk or disappeared in the dry conditions. If there is a positive to be found in the dearth of rain, it may be that runners at the Trail Animals Running Club’s TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra benefitted from near-perfect trail conditions.

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Results: TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra

The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the eighth edition of the TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester, Mass. Runners had six hours to complete as many loops as they wanted on a 3.5-mile course that started and finished on the farm after traveling on the winding, technical trails of neighboring Whipple Hill.

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Photos: TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra

The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the eighth edition of the TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester, Mass. Runners took on a 3.5-mile loop course that started and ended on the farm and wound through the technical singletrack trails of neighboring Whipple Hill. The following are a small sample of photos taken by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen. A full photo gallery can be viewed on the MassUltra Facebook page.

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