The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the eighth edition of the To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra and 3.5-mile trail race on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners in the ultra had six hours to complete as many laps of the 3.5-mile course as they wanted. Runners enjoyed temperatures that ranged from 35 degrees at the start to 60 at the finish, with sunny skies and mostly dry trails. The following are a small sample of photos taken by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen. A full gallery of 212 photos can be viewed on the MassUltra Flickr page.
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Runners Overcome Icy Footing, Sub-Freezing Temperatures at TARCtic Frozen Yeti
WESTWOOD, Mass. – No matter each runner’s preference, be it a carefully curated playlist or an earbud-free experience with the soothing sounds of nature, the crunch, crunch, crunch of Yaktrax, microspikes and EXOspikes was the unofficial soundtrack to the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra on Feb. 1-2 at Hale Reservation.
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Results: TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra
The Trail Animals Running Club (TARC) played host to the sixth running of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra and 15-Mile Night Race on Feb. 1-2, 2025, at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners took on a clover leaf-style course that was covered in ice and snow, encountered light snowfall at times, and endured below-freezing temperatures for the duration of the event.
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Photos: 2025 TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra
The Trail Animals Running Club (TARC) played host to the sixth running of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra on Feb. 1-2, 2025, at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners had 30 hours to complete as many loops as they wanted on a clover leaf-style course consisting of three approximately 5-mile mini-loops. The course was covered in ice and a thin layer of snow, and the temperature was below freezing for the duration of the event. The following are a small sample of photos from the event taken by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen. A full gallery from the event can be viewed here on the MassUltra Flickr page.
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Grip Dominant, Needham Smashes Record at TARC Winter Classic
Running loops of the Skyline Trail at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Mass., is a New England trail-running tradition that outdates the creation of the Trail Animals Running Club’s TARC Trail Series.
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Results: TARC Winter Classic
The 14th season of the TARC Trail Series came to a close with the annual TARC Winter Classic on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Mass. It was the 15th running of the event overall, 13th edition under the TARC umbrella, and second year with the new Winter Classic format with 32-mile and 8-mile distances on the Skyline Trail. Check out a full photo gallery from the race courtesy of Chris Arson Photography.
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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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Runners Flourish with Great Weather, Fast Times at Stone Cat Trail Festival
Hidden by the early-morning darkness, critters could be heard rustling around the soccer fields behind the Paul F. Doyon Memorial School in the wee hours of Saturday, Nov. 2, in Ipswich, Mass. The critters – Trail Animals, actually – were making their final preparations before the start of the Trail Animals Running Club’s (TARC) Stone Cat Trail Festival.
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