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 ClassicTag Archives: Massachusetts
‘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
After Postponement, Chesterfield Gorge Ultra Officially Canceled
When Race Director Amy Rusiecki postponed the Chesterfield Gorge 30-Hour Ultra from May to November, the COVID-19 pandemic had a firm grip on the Northeast. At the time, cautious optimism existed that the region – and the United States as a whole – would do what was necessary to get the pandemic under control and allow some semblance of normalcy to return.
Continue reading After Postponement, Chesterfield Gorge Ultra Officially Canceled
Masks, Miles, and Major Performances at the Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail
NEW IPSWICH, N.H. – Bob Keating crouched into a starting position as the final seconds counted down. Then, with the ring of the starting bell, the 73-year-old from Nashua, N.H., fired off the line with a strong knee-drive as though he were running a 100-meter dash.
But this was no sprint; far from it. This was the Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail 100-mile race, and there was a long way to go. After a few steps, Keating paused, had a quick laugh, turned and waved to the other runners.
Continue reading Masks, Miles, and Major Performances at the Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail
