STONEHAM, Mass. – A year ago, Adam Ribeiro fended off a fierce challenge during the final miles before winning the Trail Animals Running Club’s Fells Winter Ultra 40-mile race by less than two minutes.
Ribeiro returned to defend his title on Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Middlesex Fells Reservation. Though the 31-year-old from Marlborough, Mass., once again faced a staunch challenge throughout the day, his biggest threat came from a four-legged trail-user who nearly upended Ribeiro’s race during the late miles.
STONEHAM, Mass. – A year ago, Sophia Farnsworth closed out her ultra season with a victory at the TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra in mid-November. That set the tone for 2022 and what would be the biggest season of her life.
Farnsworth opened the year by taking on her first 100-miler – the grueling Hellbender 100 in North Carolina – and earned a top-10 finish. She followed that up in August with a top-five performance at the Twisted Branch 100K in New York. The Fells Winter Ultra marked the final race of her season on Saturday, Dec. 3, at the Middlesex Fells Reservation and Farnsworth once again hoped to end with a win.
The Trail Animals Running Club closed out its 2022 season with the annual TARC Fells Winter Ultra 40-mile and 32-mile trail ultras on the Skyline Trail at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Mass. The following are a small sample of the photos taken by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen at the race. A full gallery of more than 175 photos can be viewed at this link.
The Trail Animals Running Club played host to its annual running of the Fells Winter Ultra on Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Mass. Runners tackled either four or five 8-mile loops of the Skyline Trail in 32-mile and 40-mile trail ultramarathons.
WINCHESTER, Mass. – Though she’s been running with Northeast Trail Crew for the past year, Rebecca Pellerin waited until October to make her trail-racing debut when she took on the 15-miler at the Ghost Train Rail Trail Race.
The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the sixth running of the TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, at Wright-Locke Farm and Whipple Hill in Winchester, Mass. A revised course made its debut this year which extended the loop from 3.1 to 3.5 miles. Runners had six hours to complete the loop as many times as they could. The following is a small sample of photos taken at the race by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen. A full photo gallery of 134 photos can be viewed at this link.
The Trail Animals Running Club (TARC) played host to the sixth running of the TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, Nov. 12, at Wright-Locke Farm and Whipple Hill in Winchester, Mass. This year’s event marked the debut of a revised course that expanded the loop distance from 3.1 miles to 3.5 miles including a few additional hills. Runners amassed around 630 feet of elevation gain per loop.
For years the TARC Fall Classic was something of the Patrick Caron show. The native of Needham, Mass., made his ultrarunning debut at the 2015 event and turned heads with his runner-up finish in the 50-mile race in 8:19:45 at just 18 years old. He returned to run the 50-miler during each of the next three years, setting new course records each time, concluding with a sizzling 6:52:04 performance in 2018.
Following a two-year hiatus, the Trail Animals Running Club’s TARC Fall Classic returned for its 10th running on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, at Great Brook Farm State Park in Carlisle, Mass. Runners had 50-mile and 50K ultramarathon options in addition to half-marathon and 10K distance offerings.