Gobble, Gobble, TARCkey Trot

5k 1st place took home a jar of tasty
Wright-Locke farm honey!

Gobble, gobble, gobble! Thanksgiving and "fun" times with family are right around the corner! That also means that we runners are trotting along on our turkey trots this week in hopes of catching that last breath of fall weather or easing our conscience while stuffing our faces this Thursday. It's OK, we're all in it together.

This past Saturday I made it down to the first, hopefully not the last, TARCkey Trot 5k and 6hr run just outside Boston. Running with these animals is always a good time. If you're in the New England and you haven't been to one of their races or group runs, you're missing out! Great people, great venues, great organization, and a whole lot of fun. Check out the Trail Animals Running Club website here and join the fun! Join their entertaining and active community on Facebook, here.

I can't imagine better weather for a mid-November race in New England. Sunny, high 40s F, beautiful. The race was based out of the barn (built in 18-something, 78?) at Wright-Locke Farm in Winchester, MA and ran through the farm's fields and Whipple Hill conservation area in neighboring Lexington. Trails were your typical fall clutter of leaves, beautiful, but definitely takes focus to not eat dirt. Beautiful single and some double track up and over rolling hills, total elevation gain of 376ft over the 5k loop course. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning. The most fantastic part about this race was the finish line and transition area (for the 6hr) at the entrance to the farm's barn, though there was a car accidentally parked just in front of the finish line as the 5k finishers came in. Still awesome. Congrats to all the runners that turned out and a big thank you to Josh Katzman, the TARC crew, and the volunteers for an awesome day!

Fresh Tracks Race Update: We're recruiting sponsors and finalizing the course for our first Fresh Tracks race of 2017! The 8mi and 5k trail runs will be held early Spring at Gunstock Mountain Resort in Gilford, NH. More deets to come soon! Stay tuned.

TARCkey Trot - Top Finishers

6hr (89 participants)
M1 Patrick Caron 37.2mi
M2 Sylvain Olier 34.1mi
M3 John Paul Lewicke 31mi
F1 Alexandra Brinket 31mi
F2 Justine Cohen 27.9mi
F3 Kara Spera 27.9mi

5k (40 participants)
M1 Andrew Hostetler 23:29 (that's me!)
M2 Michael McDuffie 24:55
M3 Chris Parfitt 25:04
F1 Samantha Leblanc 26:59
F2 Dana Christensen 31:51
F3 Annie Gagliardi 33:02

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Click Here for Full Results

Click here to check out the run on Strava for the elevation profile and route.

​Keep it fresh.