The 2018 Massachusetts ultrarunning season originally was set to begin bright and early on Jan. 3 with the G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K, but the 20thedition of that event was called off due to single-digit temperatures and a wind chill well below zero.
Due to that change of plans, the Bay State’s 2018 ultramarathon race calendar will officially kick off with the Cape Cod Frozen Fat Ass 50K at 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, at Sandy Neck Beach in Barnstable, Mass. The 12thannual event is put on by the Cape Cod Ultrarunning Society, and it includes a 25K race for runners who would rather not make a second figure-eight loop of the sandy course.Continue reading Massachusetts Ultra Season Begins Saturday on Cape Cod→
A quiet second weekend of January on the ultramarathon racing scene meant Dan Kelley of Lynnfield, Mass., gets this week’s roundup all to himself – and he earned the spotlight with a victory in California. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: San Diego 50→
The 2017 ultramarathon season closed out and 2018 was ushered in at the 34th annual Across the Years Ultrarunning Festival in Arizona where Mattapoisett resident Clifford Lange lodged perhaps the final ultra finish of the year for a Massachusetts resident, and then Cambridge’s Julien Klaudt-Moreau and Boylston’s Neil Feldman opened the 2018 season with strong showings in Arizona and Texas.
Confusion abounded at the finish line of the inaugural Spartan Ultra World Championship on Sunday, Dec. 17, in Reykjavik, Iceland, but it had nothing to do with the outcome of the race.
Joshua Fiore, a resident of North Andover, Mass., was the winner – that much was certain. What puzzled the race’s announcer and other spectators gathered at the finish line was why Fiore was so intently digging into his pack pocket rather than exuberantly celebrating his world championship.
The G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K has seen its share of cold, challenging weather conditions during the past 19 years, including a mid-race snowstorm in 2017 that sent some runners home early and forced others to scrape a few inches of fresh powder off of their windshields after finishing.
The forecast for the 20th annual Fat Ass 50K on Saturday at Bradley Palmer State Park in Topsfield, Mass., looks like a recipe for frostbite, however, with The Weather Channel projecting a high of 4 degrees, a low of minus 9, and 17-mile-per-hour wind. Given the potentially dangerous conditions, the ultramarathon has been called off to ensure the safety of both runners and volunteers. Continue reading Frigid Temperatures Force Cancellation of G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K→
A steady downpour pelted Alex and me as we made our way through the streets of Chamonix, rounded the final turn and – with the thumping sound of spectators banging on signboards echoing off the walls of the surrounding buildings – ran the final steps of the CCC 101K hand-in-hand, crossed the finish line and immediately collapsed into each other’s arms in a long embrace.
It was late-morning on Sept. 2. Four years and one day earlier we’d shared a starting line in Whistler, B.C., to take on a mountain 50-miler just days after meeting for the first time. It was during that trip that we first talked about running the CCC. Now, after four years of waiting and more than 25 hours of running and hiking through the Alps, we were done. Continue reading From the Editor’s Desk: Personal and Community Engagement Made 2017 Special→
Eric Ciocca dominated the overall field, but a pack of fast women stole the show during the final Massachusetts ultramarathon of 2017 at Seth’s Fat Ass 50K on Saturday, Dec. 16, in Springfield.
The competition simply to enter the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run grows steeper by the year with more than 4,900 runners vying for 261 spots in the field via the lottery process for 2018. Even with a 15-percent increase in lottery applicants from a year ago, two Massachusetts residents had their names drawn in the lottery for the second year in a row.
Forty-eight Massachusetts runners entered the lottery, but Winchester residents David Souza and Kim Vanyo were the only ones to have their names selected for the 45th running of the Western States 100, which will take place June 23-24. Runners will have 30 hours to complete the 100.2-mile journey from Squaw Valley to Auburn, Calif., in the latest edition of ultrarunning’s original 100-miler. Continue reading Winchester’s Souza, Vanyo Selected for Western States→
The final ultramaraton of 2017 in Massachusetts – Seth’s Fat Ass 50K – took place Saturday, Dec. 16, at Forest Park in Springfield, Mass. Runners had seven hours to complete 10 laps around a paved 5K loop. Continue reading Results: Seth’s Fat Ass 50K→
Dima Feinhaus was a few minutes removed from finishing his annual run of the Fells Winter Ultra 40-miler at the Middlesex Fells Reservation on Saturday, Dec. 2, and was chatting with friends when he received a tap on his shoulder.
Feinhaus turned to see another friend, Ryan Triffitt, with a grin on his face while holding out his cell phone.
MassUltra 