MILTON, Mass. — Twenty-five years ago, Howie Breinan dug his heel into the dirt path near Houghton’s Pond and drew a starting line for the “Don’t Run Boston” 50K at the Blue Hills Reservation. It was the first official race sponsored by the young Trail Animals Running Club, and one of the earliest trail ultramarathons to exist in Massachusetts.
A quarter century after that inaugural event, Breinan once again drew a starting line with his heel on Sunday, April 18, and welcomed runners to the 25th edition of the classic event at the Blue Hills.
The 25th edition of the Trail Animals Running Club’s “Don’t Run Boston” Ultras took place on Sunday, April 18, 2021, at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Mass. It was the first in-person TARC event since early February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the in-person running of DRB was canceled, but a virtual option was held in its place.
The first in-person trail of the year in Massachusetts took place Sunday, April 18, with the return of the Trail Animals Running Club’s “Don’t Run Boston” 50K at the Blue Hills Reservation, but plenty of out-of-state racing also went down during the April 17-18 weekend. No place was more active for New England ultrarunners than Connecticut where a trio of events were held, including some record-setting performances at the Traprock 50K and the Enchanted Forest 6-Hour Ultra. As an in-state race, DRB will be featured in a separate story, but the Connecticut races lead off this week’s busy roundup.
After more than a year of race cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person ultrarunning is gradually returning to Massachusetts and local runners have a new opportunity to log some major mileage thanks to the Needham Running Club.
The combination of spring weather and the continued successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccines made the April 10-11 weekend enticing for several New England ultrarunners to head West to race. Two headed to Colorado to race the Rattler 50K, but Utah’s Zion National Park was by far the most popular destination as 19 New Englanders tackled ultra distances from 50K to 100 miles on desert trails. Both events are featured in this week’s roundup.
After a relatively slow and quiet start to the 2021 racing season, the final weekend of March was sizzling with several races across the country and some big performances by runners from New England. Most notably, two Massachusetts men — Scott Traer and Lance Doherty — finished in the top three overall at the Umstead 100-miler in North Carolina while Crystal Ross also had a big day and came within 2 minutes of finishing on the women’s podium. In addition to six races from the last weekend of March, we’ve also highlighted the big day that some local runners had a week earlier at the F.I.T. Challenge 50K in Rhode Island. The COVID-19 vaccination rate is rising and so are the number of in-person ultras taking place, making this a jam-packed roundup.
Trail ultramarathons continue to return from their COVID-19 pandemic-induced hibernation, and Massachusetts residents took part in two of those races during the March 21-22 weekend. Highlighting the weekend was Natick’s Molly Karp who earned a spot on the podium in the 50-mile race at the MST 100 Endurance Races in North Carolina, while Somerville’s Nicholas Reid tackled some tough trails with the Vegas skyline as a backdrop. Both events are included in this week’s roundup.
On Monday, March 22, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will move to Phase 4 of its reopening plan a little more than a year after it began closing down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the move to Phase 4, the limits on outdoor gatherings in public places will increase to 150 people. The move to Phase 4 was good news for Howie Breinan, the founder and race director for the Trail Animals Running Club’s original and longest running event, the ‘Don’t Run Boston’ 50K and 50-miler at the Blue Hills Reservation.
In-person ultras remain on hold in Massachusetts as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout slowly gains steam in the Bay State, but in-person racing continues to take place in several other states along the East Coast. Two of them were held last weekend and had Massachusetts residents among the finishers. Sutton’s Greg Wolodkin kicked off what he hopes will be a big year of racing with a trip to Georgia for the Yeti 7/11-Hour race, while Worcester’s Brenda Morris took part in a women-only race in Virginia. Both events are covered in this week’s roundup.
In-person running ultramarathon events have been largely halted in New England this winter as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the region, but an in-person skiing ultra event took place last weekend in New Hampshire that drew more than 80 competitors to the unique ultra-distance event. The Last Skier Standing race leads off this week’s roundup, which also includes the Rocky Raccoon 100-miler in Texas and the ICY-8 time-based ultra in Virginia.
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