For just the third time in event history, the G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K was canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the event’s founding in 1998, it had only been canceled twice before, in 2004 and 2018, both times due to inclement weather.
Continue reading G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K Set to Return in 2022Tag Archives: trailrunning
TARC Fells Winter Ultra Returns with Spirited Racing
The Trail Animals Running Club typically has evaded early-winter hibernation with the annual running of the Fells Winter Ultra during the first weekend of December at the Middlesex Fells Reservation. That wasn’t the case in 2020, however; the club was forced to cancel the event as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the trail ultrarunning schedule locally and globally.
The Fells Winter Ultra made its return on Saturday, Dec. 4, as runners once again flocked to the trailhead in Stoneham, Mass., to tackle four or five loops of the reservation’s rocky and rugged Skyline Trail in 32- and 40-mile races.
Continue reading TARC Fells Winter Ultra Returns with Spirited RacingMassUltra Roundup: Devil Dog, McDowell Mountain, Brazos Bend, and Dead Horse
Winter is nearly upon us, and the 2021 ultramarathon season is rapidly coming to a close. The first weekend of December saw far fewer races than in recent months, and although most New England residents who raced during the Dec. 4-5 weekend opted to stay local at the Fells Winter Ultra in Stoneham, Mass., a handful headed out of state to race. That included Graham Simon who delivered a dandy of a performance in his first 100-mile race at the Devil Dog Ultras in Virginia. His strong performance leads off this week’s roundup.
Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Devil Dog, McDowell Mountain, Brazos Bend, and Dead HorseResults: TARC Fells Winter Ultra
The Trail Animals Running Club played host to its annual running of the Fells Winter Ultra on Saturday, Dec. 4, 2021, at the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Mass. Runners tackled either four or five 8-mile loops of the Skyline Trail in 32-mile and 40-mile trail ultramarathons.
Continue reading Results: TARC Fells Winter Ultra
Back to Hale: After 2-Year Hiatus, To Hale and Back Registration Opens
In March of 2020, the To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra and 5K became the first Massachusetts trail ultramarathon to be a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Just seven weeks earlier, the Trail Animals Running Club had played host to the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra on some of the same trails at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass., in the first of what was supposed to be a 10-race season for the TARC Trail Series.
Continue reading Back to Hale: After 2-Year Hiatus, To Hale and Back Registration Opens
McInerney, Farnsworth Prevail at Spirited TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra
WINCHESTER, Mass. — Less than 24 hours before the start of the TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra, Race Director Jeff LeBlanc found himself inundated with rain. He was marking the 3.1-mile loop course through Wright-Locke Farm and Whipple Hill when a heavy thunderstorm moved over Winchester, soaking him within seconds and blasting him with heavy wind. As fast as the rain fell, leaves dropped from the trees all around him almost as quickly, expediting their autumn transition and hiding many of the course’s network of rocks and twisting tree roots.
Continue reading McInerney, Farnsworth Prevail at Spirited TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra
Kenty Goes from First at Ghost Train to DFL Champion
A month ago, Jennifer Kenty put on an impressive display of speed when she dominated the Ghost Train Rail Trail Race 100-miler, winning the race outright by 2 ½ hours and clocking the third-fastest women’s time in course history. Four weeks later, Kenty once again turned heads – though this time it was for her patient endurance as she outdueled the rest of the field at the Race for DFL.
Continue reading Kenty Goes from First at Ghost Train to DFL ChampionMassUltra Roundup: Bold Coast, Run the Rock, Tunnel Hill, and Rio Del Lago
November has been busy for ultras in Massachusetts, starting with the Stone Cat 50K and followed by both the Race for DFL and TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultras on Nov. 13-14. While those events attracted many runners from Massachusetts and greater New England, a handful of runners from the region still raced beyond the Bay State, including the inaugural offering of a 50K distance at the Bold Coast Bash in Maine. That race and more are featured in this week’s roundup.
Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Bold Coast, Run the Rock, Tunnel Hill, and Rio Del LagoResults: Race for DFL
After a one-year hiatus, Race Director Amy Rusiecki revived the Race for DFL last-person-standing event at a new location at Chesterfield Gorge Reservation in West Chesterfield, Mass. Runners tackled a 4.1667-mile loop, with a new race starting on the hour, every hour, until one runner remained.
Continue reading Results: Race for DFL
Photos: TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra
The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the fifth running of the TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, at Wright-Locke Farm and Whipple Hill in Winchester, Mass. The following are a small sample of photos from the day. A full gallery from the race can be viewed on the MassUltra Facebook page at this link. All photos by Chris Wristen/MassUltra.
Continue reading Photos: TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultra
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