WESTWOOD, Mass. – Seventy-five runners gathered inside Powissett Lodge as a light snow fell outside. Some topped off water bottles and soft flasks, while others rustled through their packs, double-checking to make sure they had everything they needed. Most listened intently as co-Race Director Surjeet Paintal gave the pre-race briefing.

They were wise to pay attention, because the seventh running of the Trail Animals Running Club’s TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra on Feb. 7-8 at Hale Education would be unlike any prior edition.

The Trail Animals Running Club (TARC) played host to the seventh running of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra and 15-mile night race on Feb. 7-8, 2026, at Hale Education in Westwood, Mass. Runners encountered challenging conditions with excessive snow that fell prior to, and during, the race, as well as temperatures well below freezing and wind chills as low as -15F.

The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the seventh running of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra and 15-mile night race on Feb. 7-8, 2026, at Hale Education in Westwood, Mass.  The following are a small sample of photos taken by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen. A full photo gallery can be viewed on the MassUltra Flickr page.

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.

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.

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.

WESTWOOD, Mass. – A few minutes into the pre-race briefing, TARCtic Frozen Yeti co-Race Director Surjeet Paintal turned the floor over to course-marking captain Chris Martin who had the honor of delivering the best news runners could hope for.

“The course is beautiful. You probably have the best conditions in the history of this race,” Martin told the nearly 100 runners gathered inside Powissett Lodge awaiting the start of the 30-hour ultramarathon at Hale Reservation.

The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the fifth edition of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra and 15-Mile Night Race on Feb. 3-4, 2024, at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners enjoyed some of the best weather in event history with with no precipitation, a temperature around 30 degrees at the start on Saturday, sunny skies and a high in the mid-30s, overnight temperatures in the mid-20s, and a sunny Sunday morning that crept above freezing for the final hours before reaching the upper-30s by the time the race ended on early Sunday afternoon. All photos in this gallery by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen (who was running the race and didn’t take many). To view a full photo gallery from the event, check out the great work by Garrett Simon who was out on the course and took nearly 500 photos.

The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the fifth edition of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra and 15-Mile Night Race on Feb. 3-4, 2024, at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners took on a 15+-mile clover-leaf style course consisting of three approximately 5-mile mini-loops. Runners enjoyed seasonably good weather with no precipitation, a temperature around 30 degrees at the start on Saturday, sunny skies and a high in the mid-30s, overnight temperatures in the mid-20s, and a sunny Sunday morning that crept above freezing for the final hours before reaching the upper-30s by the time the race ended on early Sunday afternoon.

WESTWOOD, Mass. – Gordon Collins knows the questions that are about to come his way. He hasn’t been prepped for the interview or told what he’ll be asked in advance. But come on, how could he not anticipate being asked about the most obvious detail about the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra?