Lars Sauvola knows the Wapack Trail extremely well. He made his Wapack and Back debut in 2009 when he finished third in the 21.5-mile race. He then raced the Wapack Fall Race 18-miler four times between 2009 and 2014, finishing in the top six each time. He returned to Wapack and Back in 2023 and raced to victory in the 43-mile race in 8:58:00.

Sauvola was back at Wapack and Back for its 16th edition on Saturday, May 11, in Ashburnham, Mass., and this time the 49-year-old from Rindge, N.H., set his sights on the 50-mile distance, the longest of the event’s three offerings. That meant completing an out-and-back run of the trail, along with seven additional miles resulting in nearly 11,000 feet of climbing – much of it on rocky, gnarly terrain.

The 16th edition of the Trail Animals Running Club’s Wapack and Back Trail Races took place on Saturday, May 11, 2024, in Ashburnham, Mass. Runners took on either a 43-mile out-and-back of the Wapack Trail, a 50-mile race that included the 43-mile out-and-back and an additional seven miles, or a 21.5-mile one-way journey through the course. Since its founding in 2007 by Bogie Dumitrescu, the event has been held annually with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.