IPSWICH, Mass. – Roger Martell Jr. gazed across the field behind Paul F. Doyon School and watched as runners emerged from Willowdale State Forest, dashed across the open field and crossed the finish line of the inaugural TARC Stone Cat Trail Festival.
Martell made the same journey minutes earlier when he finished his half marathon. Now, standing with hands on his hips and sporting a red running singlet with the initials G.A.C. emblazoned across the chest in white, Martell inhaled the cool, crisp morning air and soaked up the atmosphere while catching his breath. As his heart rate settled, the smile across his face grew wide.
The 22nd edition of the Stone Cat Trail Race and inaugural running of the event now known as the TARC Stone Cat Trail Festival took place Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023, at Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich, Mass. All photos in this gallery are by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen. A full gallery from the race with 250+ photos can be viewed on the MassUltra Facebook page.
The 22nd edition of the Stone Cat Trail Race and inaugural running of the event now known as the TARC Stone Cat Trail Festival took place Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023, at Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich, Mass. Founded in 2001 by Gil’s Athletic Club (GAC) in Topsfield, GAC played host to the event every year except 2020 when it was canceled due to the COIVID-19 pandemic. GAC played host to it for the final time in 2022, and the Trail Animals Running Club welcomed Stone Cat under its umbrella of trail races for the first time in 2023 to keep the beloved New England classic alive. This year’s event brought back Stone Cat’s original 50-mile and Marathon distances, but also added 100K, half marathon, 10K and a youth fun run to the lineup. This year’s event had a capacity of 550 runners and sold out well in advance of race day.
There is never an “easy time” to run the trails of Mt. Tom State Reservation. They’re steep, rocky and rough every month of the year. When Race Director Amy Rusiecki added an October race at Mt. Tom to her Beast Coast Trail Running Race Series in 2021, the accomplished trail- and ultrarunner decided those always-tough trails would be even more fun to run while covered in leaves.
HINGHAM, Mass. – Andrew Tidd squinted as he rounded the final turn and the finish line came into view. A steady rain blurred his vision, but through the drops he could see the race clock, the red arch and Race Directors Robert Jeffers and Matt Hoadley cheering him on.
Beast Coast Trail Running played host to the third annual Mt. Tom Trail Race and second edition of its 50K offering on Saturday, Oct. 21, in Easthampton, Mass. The race started and finished at Millside Park in Easthampton. In between, runners took on one or two loops of a course on the trails on and around Mt. Tom. Photographer Jonathan Loyche was on the scene to capture images of the day, and he shared them with MassUltra. The following are just a sample of Loyche’s photos; a full gallery can be viewed here.
Beast Coast Trail Running played host to the third annual Mt. Tom Trail Race and second edition of its 50K offering on Saturday, Oct. 21, in Easthampton, Mass. The race started and finished at Millside Park in Easthampton. In between, runners took on one or two loops of a course on the trails on and around Mt. Tom. Runners in the 25K race amassed around 3,600 feet of climbing while 50K runners gained around 7,000 feet of elevation.
The third annual Womp Romp 10-miler and second edition of the 50K took place on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass. Runners took on a 10.5-mile loop course on a mixture of surfaces – singletrack trails, doubletrack, fire roads, cross country grass, and pavement – either one or three times depending on the distance. Temperatures in the upper 50s made for comfortable running despite a light drizzle falling for the first four hours that eventually transitioned to a steady rain.
The Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail 100-mile race course is daunting during the best of conditions. It is front-loaded with climbing, the majority of it on rugged, technical singletrack trails where the footing is tricky and progress is often slow. The back half has several miles of road, so runners who’ve made it that far can try to pick up the pace, only to then be smacked with even more technical trails during the late miles in Douglas State Forest.
The event earned its reputation during mostly dry conditions through its first four years. The fifth edition of the race – which took place Oct. 7-8 – took course conditions to a diabolical new level as rain drenched the course, making rocks extra slippery and turning portions of the trail into rivers.
The fifth annual Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail 100-mile, 50-mile and 30-mile trail races took place Oct. 7-8, 2023, on point-to-point courses starting in New Ipswich, N.H., as well as Rutland and Spencer, Mass., with all three distances finishing at Douglas State Forest in Douglas, Mass.
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