After 18 years as a 50-mile and marathon event, the Stone Cat organizers merged the two distances into one 50K race in 2019. The result was spirited competition in both the women’s and men’s fields where strong performances were plentiful and the outcome was in doubt until the final trip around the three-loop course. By the end of the day, the reinvented Stone Cat was an instant classic.
Continue reading After Cancellation in 2020, Stone Cat Registration to Open June 29Tag Archives: Massachusetts
May Day Distance Classic Brings Runners Together for Miles, Camaraderie at Cutler Park
NEEDHAM, Mass. — When Kiko Bracker and the Needham Running Club’s Bill Gallagher drew up plans for the Needham May Day Distance Classic, they thought around a dozen local runners would show up throughout the day to log some miles and enjoy camaraderie on the trail. As it turned out, the idea was far more popular than they anticipated.
Continue reading May Day Distance Classic Brings Runners Together for Miles, Camaraderie at Cutler ParkResults: Needham May Day Distance Classic
The inaugural May Day Distance Classic took place on Saturday, May 1, 2021, at Cutler Park in Needham, Mass. Runners had 14 hours and 5 minutes – from sunrise to sunset – to run as many laps on a 6.6-mile loop trail course as they wanted. Partial laps counted in the results.
Continue reading Results: Needham May Day Distance Classic
‘Don’t Run Boston’ 50K is TARC’s First In-Person Event Since Pandemic Began
MILTON, Mass. — Twenty-five years ago, Howie Breinan dug his heel into the dirt path near Houghton’s Pond and drew a starting line for the “Don’t Run Boston” 50K at the Blue Hills Reservation. It was the first official race sponsored by the young Trail Animals Running Club, and one of the earliest trail ultramarathons to exist in Massachusetts.
A quarter century after that inaugural event, Breinan once again drew a starting line with his heel on Sunday, April 18, and welcomed runners to the 25th edition of the classic event at the Blue Hills.
Continue reading ‘Don’t Run Boston’ 50K is TARC’s First In-Person Event Since Pandemic Began
Results: Trail Animals’ ‘Don’t Run Boston’ 50K and 50-Mile
The 25th edition of the Trail Animals Running Club’s “Don’t Run Boston” Ultras took place on Sunday, April 18, 2021, at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Mass. It was the first in-person TARC event since early February 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the in-person running of DRB was canceled, but a virtual option was held in its place.
Continue reading Results: Trail Animals’ ‘Don’t Run Boston’ 50K and 50-MileNeedham Introduces New Ultra with 14-Hour May Day Run
After more than a year of race cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person ultrarunning is gradually returning to Massachusetts and local runners have a new opportunity to log some major mileage thanks to the Needham Running Club.
Continue reading Needham Introduces New Ultra with 14-Hour May Day Run
TARC’s ‘Don’t Run Boston’ Trail Ultras Tentatively Approved
On Monday, March 22, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will move to Phase 4 of its reopening plan a little more than a year after it began closing down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the move to Phase 4, the limits on outdoor gatherings in public places will increase to 150 people. The move to Phase 4 was good news for Howie Breinan, the founder and race director for the Trail Animals Running Club’s original and longest running event, the ‘Don’t Run Boston’ 50K and 50-miler at the Blue Hills Reservation.
Continue reading TARC’s ‘Don’t Run Boston’ Trail Ultras Tentatively Approved
TARC Cancels 3 More 2021 Races as Pandemic Rages On
The Trail Animals Running Club (TARC) was forced to cancel nine of its 10 trail races in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the United States. A massive spike in positive cases and hospitalizations tied to Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday gatherings and travel, coupled with a slow rollout of vaccines, made it clear that COVID-19 isn’t yet done ravaging the TARC Trail Series.
Continue reading TARC Cancels 3 More 2021 Races as Pandemic Rages On
After VT100 Cancellation, Resilient RD Rusiecki Finds New Ways to Support Vermont Adaptive
Barely a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, Amy Rusiecki’s world as a race director began to crumble.
The first race of the 2020 season that she was slated to direct – the Mt. Toby 50K – was forced to cancel as orders from Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker restricted the size of public gatherings, schools were closed, and businesses statewide largely shut down or transitioned to work-from-home environments. A few weeks later, Rusiecki was forced to cancel the popular 7 Sisters Trail Race as the pandemic worsened. As the year wore on, her three remaining events all were canceled.
Continue reading After VT100 Cancellation, Resilient RD Rusiecki Finds New Ways to Support Vermont Adaptive
Frozen Yeti is First 2021 Ultra Canceled Due to COVID-19
The past two weeks have brought encouraging news regarding two COVID-19 vaccines potentially becoming available starting sometime in December for the most vulnerable of the population, with wider availability to the general public possibly by April 2021. Those same two weeks have also brought devastating news that the pandemic is taking its firmest grip yet on the United States with parts of the Bay State beginning to lock back down for the winter.
Continue reading Frozen Yeti is First 2021 Ultra Canceled Due to COVID-19
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