Eastern New England Trail Race Series

After several inquiries we have updated the overall standings for the twenty races that have been completed. George Corff from the North Medford Club has been doing a truly remarkable job of compiling individual race results as well as overall series standings. He has graciously acknowledged the compliments that have accompanied these inquiries. The series has had upwards to two thousand participants so you can imagine the scale of keeping track of individual results. That is why we count on runners to let us know if there are any omissions. For an initial attempt I believe the series has been a success far beyond our expectations. A bit overwhelming at times but very gratifying. The website has had approximately six thousand visits. For anyone who has wondered just how popular trail running is in this region this goes a long way in answering those questions.

If twenty-two trail races isn't enough for even the die hard trail runner an additional race has been added to the end of the schedule. The Fells 8M Trail race is a truly unique race even by trail running standards. Check out the race's website to find all the particulars. Running that day as well will be an ultra on the same course but Bogie wanted in on the series so made a single loop race for inclusion in the series. Unfortunately because of State Park restrictions there will be only twenty-five entrants for the 8 mile race so if you are interested sign up early.

Other upcoming races include:
Oct. 5 Houghton's Pond 6M Trail Race
Oct. 5 'Ready SEF Go' 5K Trail Run
Oct. 11 Diamond Hill 22.5K
Oct. 12 Wayland 5K XC Challenge
Oct. 19 Ravenswood 4.1M Trail Race
Oct. 19 Groton Town Forest 9.5M and 3.4M Trail Race

As you can see a very busy month with many different races to choose from.

I would like to once again ask all series participants to look over the standings and note if any of the totals seem incorrect. Because of the way the program for tabulating series points is designed it will not recognize entries that are submitted for one race in lower case and another in upper case. Also, if there is a change in age or name such as Robert on one race app and Bob on another double entries in the standings will result and total points will not be correct. Contact me or leave an entry on the site.

Happy trails to all.

Two upcoming races of varying lengths are scheduled for this weekend. The Wrentham 20K and the North Medford Club Overlook 7 Mile and 5K Walk/Run Trail Race will be run Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th respectively. If the weather is half as nice as the weather has been this past Labor Day weekend it will be a great time to get out and compete on trails before leaves begin to fall and obscure obstacles on the trails. As a lifelong New Englander, it is the love of the changing seasons that make fall running a very appreciated change of pace. Cool in the woods but the air is warm enough to keep all the joints and muscles loose. Hope you can join us.

The inaugural Eastern New England Trail Race Series has completed nine trail events. Long standing events as well as newer ones have provided a Whitman Sampler of trail races. If you have been participating in some of the races you will notice the differences between each location. This first year will give runners an opportunity to sample different distances and degrees of difficulty. In the future this will come in handy when selecting a personal running schedule.

As is common with most first attempts the series has had its ups and downs. Looking over the standings I would say the number of participants is one of those pluses. There are many more individuals who have participated in multiple races than I would have guessed. One of the negatives has been the difficulty in calculating the standings. North Medford Club member George Corff has developed a program for changing results from races into series standings as well as age group standings. As you can imagine, this is a very time consuming chore. George has done a tremendous job with this. What has made it difficult is that some individual race results have been submitted to Coolrunning in upper case. The program does not recognize the already existing name and consequently points are not added to that person's total. If you notice that a race you have participated in has not been credited to your points total please notify me and we will make the correction.

Upcoming races include the very challenging Wapack 17 miler on August 31st. Paul Funch is the race director and does a great job of managing this race. Also, on September 6 the Wrentham 20K will be held, Peter Dubendris race director. If you are looking for something a little shorter let me suggest my club's North Medford Club Overlook 7M and 5K Walk/Run Trail Race. This is the fifth running of this race in the past three years and we are very encouraged by the growing number of runners who return as well as run it for the first time.

Happy Trails to all.

The results have been posted for both the male and female series standings. standings page for details.