Spring Fever Trail Races Welcome Newcomers, Familiar Faces in Big Second Year

When Jenny Cavanagh created the Spring Fever Trail Races, the owner of TA Fitness in Weymouth, Mass., sought to share her passion for trail-running with members of her gym and other runners in the region. Runners embraced her invitation with 84 taking on any of the various options during the inaugural year.

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MassUltra Roundup: Forgotten Forest, Promise Land, Mendocino Coast, Leona Divide, Royal Gorge, and Capitan Mountain

The April 19-21 weekend was busy for ultrarunning in the Bay State with two events – the TARC Spring Classic and the Spring Fever 8-Hour – attracting hundreds of runners to tackle ultra and sub-ultra distances on local trails. Not all racers that weekend stayed local, though. Some put up big mileage in nearby Connecticut at the Forgotten Forest 9-Hour Ultra where a course record crumbled. Others headed South to Virginia for the Promise Land 50K, and even more headed West to ultras in California, Colorado and New Mexico. And that’s just the events with results available at press time. New Englanders were also set to toe the starting line of the Wawayanda Trail Fest in New Jersey, the Hyner Trail Challenge in Pennsylvania, the Phoenix Trail Fest in Alabama, and Earth Day Bucklemania in Kansas.

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MassUltra Roundup: Traprock, English’s Ridge, Whiskey Basin, Rattler, Gorge Waterfalls, Zion, and New River

While a few-dozen New Englanders were taking on the tough trails and unmarked course of the Trail Animals Running Club’s “Don’t Run Boston” 50K and 50-mile ultras at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Mass., several other runners from the region were scattered throughout the country for a variety of other ultras during the April 12-14 weekend. Some stayed in the region for the classic Traprock 50K in Connecticut, where some of the finest performances in the event’s 14-year history were delivered. Others headed to nearby New York for the English’s Ridge Rumble. Several more raced out West, in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah, while a few more headed South to Virginia. We have them all covered in this jam-packed edition of the roundup.

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Clark Sets Course Record on Sloppy Day at Mt. Toby

A year ago, Samantha Stimac danced over rocks and dashed up and down the singletrack and doubletrack trails of Mt. Toby on a dry, sunny day on her way to setting the female course record at the Mt. Toby Trail Race 50K. On Saturday, April 6, it was Britta Clark’s turn to turn in a head-turning performance – this time with less than ideal conditions.

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MassUltra Roundup: Bootlegger and Umstead

The April 5-7 weekend featured plenty of tough running in sloppy conditions at the Mt. Toby Trail Race in Sunderland,  Mass., but a few New Englanders opted for other environments as they scattered the country to race in Georgia and North Carolina, as well as Texas and Washington. Results have yet to be posted for the Ancient Lakes 50K in Washington and the Brazos Bend 50 in Texas, but New Englanders earned 100-mile finishes at the Bootlegger 100 in Georgia and the Umstead 100 in North Carolina, highlighting this edition of the roundup.

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Results: Mt. Toby Trail Races

Beast Coast Trail Running played host to the fourth edition of the Mt. Toby Trail Races 50K ultramarathon and 24K races, as well as the inaugural 13K, on Saturday, April 6, in Sunderland, Mass. Runners took on a rugged course with a challenging mix of mud and snow that made for difficult conditions.

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MassUltra Roundup: Georgia Death Race and Antelope Island Buffalo Run

The busiest March ultrarunning slate in recent memory for New Englanders came to a close with a relatively quiet March 30-31 weekend. Just a handful of runners from the region took on ultras with a few traveling to Georgia for the Georgia Death Race and two more heading west to Utah for the Antelope Island Buffalo Run. We have both covered in this edition of the roundup.

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MassUltra Roundup: Spring On the Trails, Devil’s Shadow, Mt. Tammany 10, and the Bullshit Backyard Ultra

After starting in the South and then venturing to the Midwest and West, we close out our March 22-24 weekend roundups by returning to the Northeast. While many runners from the region stayed close to home and raced the TARC To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra in Massachusetts (see separate recap story), runners also took on ultras in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We start in New York with the Spring on the Trails Endurance Runs and the inaugural Devil’s Shadow 50K, and then head to New Jersey for the rugged Mt. Tammany 10 before finishing up in Pennsylvania at the Bullshit Backyard Ultra.

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Going beyond the marathon in Massachusetts