Tag Archives: Massachusetts

Columns

From the Editor’s Desk: In Choosing to Incite Rather than Inspire, Outside Commentary Fails the “Leave No Trace” Test

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Something special is happening in Missoula, Montana, and we’d all be well-served to read about it.

Sparked by conversations on several trail runs more than five years ago, the Montana Trail Crew (MTC) was born. In addition to organizing runs, the MTC’s primary mission is to promote trail stewardship within the Montana trail-running community, including trail building, trail maintenance and conservation work. It’s noble work that all of us who use and love trails and wild places should admire and attempt to emulate as best we can. Heck, it just might be a model that could be replicated in trail communities across the country.

Here’s a link to the MTC’s website where you can learn more about what they’re up to. I’d give you a link to the write-up about the organization in Outside Magazine, but unfortunately there’s not much to peruse. The columnist and his editors decided it wasn’t a story worth digging into, opting to bury it within a piece of clickbait instead. Continue reading From the Editor’s Desk: In Choosing to Incite Rather than Inspire, Outside Commentary Fails the “Leave No Trace” Test →

durtyfeets

Karp Pulls Away Late for Win at Goat Hill; Fuller Tops Men’s Field

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For the fourth year in a row, “The Goat” presented a tough test to ultrarunners when MRA Multisport played host to the fourth annual durtyfeets Trail Run Series Goat Hill 50K on Saturday, May 18, in Uxbridge, Mass.

Seventeen runners accepted the challenge this year, and 12 ultimately completed all four trips around the eight-mile loop course on a sunny day where the temperature rose into the 70s. The race threw plenty of rocks and roots at the runners, but also mixed in some sections of smooth singletrack dirt. Along the way, they endured 1,000 feet of vertical gain per loop – 250 feet of it coming during the course of a quarter-mile climb courtesy of “The Goat.” Continue reading Karp Pulls Away Late for Win at Goat Hill; Fuller Tops Men’s Field →

Northeast Race Management

Pulli, Rushton Cruise to Wins at Watuppa

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Michael Pulli finished 2018 with a flourish, racing to victory at the rain-soaked Stone Cat 50-miler as well as runner-up finishes at the TARC Fall Classic 50K and the Fells Winter Ultra 32-miler.

Pulli waited until May to kick off his 2019 ultramarathon season, but the 42-year-old resident of Medford, Mass., raced like he was in mid-season form at the second annual Watuppa 50K and seventh annual Watuppa Trail Races on Sunday, May 19, at Watuppa Reservation in Fall River, Mass. Continue reading Pulli, Rushton Cruise to Wins at Watuppa →

TARC

After Chilly Spring, Warmth Returns for Wapack and Back

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After training through what has been an unseasonably cool spring, runners were granted a reprieve from the rain, clouds and dampness at the 13th annual Wapack and Back 50-mile, 43-mile and 21.5-mile trail races on Saturday, May 11, in Ashburnham, Mass.

After starting by the glow of headlamps at 5 a.m. at Mt. Watatic State Park, runners of the ultramarathon distances soon ditched their lights and endured the direct sun of a mostly clear day where the temperature rose into the 70s. Continue reading After Chilly Spring, Warmth Returns for Wapack and Back →

Features

For Waltham Native Ward, Boston Quad is a Celebration of Good Health, Great Friends

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Decked out from head to toe in wind- and waterproof rain gear, including a bright yellow Mountain Hardwear jacket, black pants and thick, warm gloves, Henry Ward looked like he was on an early-spring expedition in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In place of sturdy hiking boots, however, were running sneakers. Rather than mountains, his path was black pavement that glistened from hours of heavy rain.

Ward was somewhere near Chestnut Hill, around mile 22 of the Boston Marathon. It was April 16, 2018, and the Waltham, Mass., native and current resident of Tempe, Ariz., was making his Boston Marathon debut. Heartbreak Hill was behind him; the famous Citgo sign, downtown Boston and the finish line four miles ahead. Continue reading For Waltham Native Ward, Boston Quad is a Celebration of Good Health, Great Friends →

TARC

Burke, Damon Splash, Dash to Victories in Spring Classic 50K

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WESTON, Mass. – Of course it rained. It was always going to happen. This is the Spring Classic, after all.

The Trail Animals Running Club’s Spring Classic has established its share of traditions through the years – the yeti howl at the start; the wooden “trophies” foraged from the course; the MarketBasket sushi tray for volunteers – but perhaps the most predictable feature of the early-season event is rain. Nearly every Spring Classic has experienced at least a bit of the wet stuff, usually during pre-race set-up or at some point in the first loop or two of the race. Continue reading Burke, Damon Splash, Dash to Victories in Spring Classic 50K →

TARC

Speed, Doubling and Durability on Display at ‘Don’t Run Boston’

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Two years ago, with Josh Katzman running by his side, Matt Picard made a memorable Don’t Run Boston debut. The duo stuck together throughout the day, finished together, and set a course record for the 50K race at the Trail Animals Running Club’s original event.

After a year away, Picard returned to the race on Sunday, April 14, at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Mass. This time, the 34-year-old resident of Jamaica Plain, Mass., spent most of the day running solo, but he enjoyed a similar outcome. He didn’t move quite as quickly as when Katzman was pushing him (4:45), but Picard earned his second victory at the event with a winning time of 5:04. Picard’s 2019 effort ranked as the sixth-fastest in the 23-year history of the DRB 50K. Continue reading Speed, Doubling and Durability on Display at ‘Don’t Run Boston’ →