Category Archives: TARC

TARC

Snow-Packed Trails Test Runners Again at To Hale and Back

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WESTWOOD, Mass. – The To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra was born of the best intentions. Specifically, those intentions were to avoid the snow.

Originally known as the Spring Thaw and held in mid-March, the Trail Animals Running Club’s season-opening event enjoyed a few years of seasonably good weather. In 2015, however, a late-winter snowstorm pummeled Massachusetts for weeks on end. When all was said and done, more than seven feet of snow had fallen, and runners at the Spring Thaw found themselves at times a foot or two above the actual trail because the snowpack was so thick. Following that year, the Trail Animals pushed the race back a few weeks, changed venues from Andover to Hale Reservation, and rebranded as To Hale and Back with hopes of benefitting from a legitimate thaw. Continue reading Snow-Packed Trails Test Runners Again at To Hale and Back →

TARC

Globe-Trotting Thompson Savors Homecoming Run at Fells Winter Ultra

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STONEHAM, Mass. – For most of the 111 runners who took on either the 32- or 40-mile races at the Trail Animals Running Club’s Fells Winter Ultra on Saturday, Dec. 2, the most difficult part of the event was the four or five laps they ran around the rocky, rooty, leaf-blanketed Skyline Trail at the Middlesex Fells Reservation.

For one of them, however, the toughest part was simply getting there. Continue reading Globe-Trotting Thompson Savors Homecoming Run at Fells Winter Ultra →

TARC

Pulli Enjoys Hard-Earned Victory on Home Turf

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STONEHAM, Mass. –Barely two minutes had passed since Michael Pulli finished the Fells Winter Ultra 32-miler on Saturday, Dec. 2, at the Middlesex Fells Reservation, and Pulli stood near the finish line applauding as his closest competitor blazed across the finish line.

“That guy was coming on strong!” Pulli said, praising the performance of Marek Telus. Continue reading Pulli Enjoys Hard-Earned Victory on Home Turf →

TARC

After Arm-Twisting, Karssemeijer Races, Wins Fells 32-Miler

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STONEHAM, Mass. – Roos Karssemeijer planned to stay home on Saturday, Nov. 2, rather than running the 32-mile race at the Trail Animals Running Club’s annual Fells Winter Ultra.

The prior two weeks had been busy, between work and a cross-country trip to run an ultramarathon in California, so she was exhausted. Besides, the friend she’d signed up to run with had to cancel. Continue reading After Arm-Twisting, Karssemeijer Races, Wins Fells 32-Miler →

TARC

No Headlamp Necessary: Rose Outruns Darkness, Others in Fells 40-Mile Victory

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STONEHAM, Mass. – Emily Rose had a few simple goals for the Fells Winter Ultra 40-miler, and none of them involved winning.

“Today I wanted to not get timed out; I didn’t want to DNF because of time,” she said. “My next goal was I didn’t want to need to have a headlamp, and I just wanted to not be hurting a lot – which I wasn’t. I actually felt really good!” Continue reading No Headlamp Necessary: Rose Outruns Darkness, Others in Fells 40-Mile Victory →