Blue Hills Reservation, MILTON, MA by Howie Breinan.  I had loved the idea of the TARC 50 since last Fall when Bob Crowley set up the new Trail Animals site and announced his plan to create a 19 mile addition to the Trail Animals Don’t Run Boston 50K course to create a 50 miler.  At the time I didn’t give much thought to actually running it, as I have found it hard to get above 20 miles a week for many years.  The Spring gave me new hope, however, as I recorded a string of 30 mile weeks and ran well at the 50K.  As summer rolled around I was able to further increase my mileage and had been averaging about 50 miles for several weeks.  When Bob announced that the “official” first running of the TARC 50 would need to be postponed because of the summer racing schedule (almost everyone was training for or recovering from 100 milers), I decided to make a go of it as an informal run and sought company from others.  On Aug 9,  I joined a large crew on a training run to cover the 19 mile addition, very little of which I had run on.  With the confidence of this training and a favorable long range weather forecast, Stephen Peckiconis and I decided to make a go of it the following Sunday.  Unfortunately, as the week went on the forecast got hotter and hotter, but we had already set the plans and figured we would still make the attempt.

The day started with Stephen and I making our way around the Blue Hills at 6:00 am dropping food, water, and even a little ice.  Our many drops proved critical because we never had to go more than 6 miles without resupply in the hot weather to come.  We pulled into Houghton’s Pond at 6:30, meeting DRB 50K veterans Norm Sheppard and Paul Lanham newcomer Dave Molt for the start.  Norm and Dave were just out for shorter training runs, but Paul wanted to do at least 50 K.  We got off at 6:40 and although it was already warm, it was pretty comfortable without the sun shining on us.  After running this course exclusively in April over the last thirteen years, it didn’t take me long to find out that that there are some differences in the summer.  As I was leading up Hawk Hill, I couldn’t remember where the main trail was.  In April it doesn’t really matter as there are many crisscrossing trails that all lead up to Skyline and any of them work.  However, the one I picked was so overgrown with the summer leaf growth that I couldn’t find the trail easily and we ended up having to push pretty aggressively through the brush.  Mantracker (Tim Reif) found us at the crest of the hill and joined the party for the section east of Rte 28.  The morning proceeded smoothly, but by the time we got to skyline the sun was pretty high and starting to take its toll.  Even at the early aid drops I was taking more time than I had planned to make sure I got plenty of fluids and food in.  After the skyline loop at Headquarters (miles 13 to 16, total time now just under 4 hours) Norm (recovering from Vermont100) and Dave decided they had had enough.  Stephen was also feeling the effects of the heat and decided that the full 50 was not in the cards, but he would stick around to “crew” and keep me company later in the run.  So Paul and I left for the infamously twisty “yellow and green” highlight portions of the 50K course.  I was running pretty conservatively and things were going smoothly, but Paul was already suffering from chafing.   We kept moving slowly and steadily, realizing we were not yet half way and were experiencing the hottest part of the course on the exposed ski hill and trail around Great Blue Hill.  After that point however, the course is mostly shaded so we had some relief some the sun.  Still, with the humidity and dead air, we were very glad we dropped water at both the museum (mile 20) and where the trail nears the road around mile 23.

Just after the mile 23 aid drop, Mantracker2 (Chris Haley) found us.  Chris was getting in his final long run/heat training for Cascade Crest 100 and his company was very welcome.  Chris was the originator of the Trail Animals and instrumental in its revival and laying out the addition to make 50 miles.  It is too bad that Bob Crowley had to miss this run after a change in his plans, as he was the major driver of the club revival and laying of the course.  We got back to HQ at mile 26 in about 6:20 with Stephen there to help and clean up the drop bags.  On the last loop of the 50K Paul was really suffering with the chafing and decided enough was enough.  Chris and I had some confusion over how the last section of the 50K course connected to the new 19 miles and we ended up wasting some time and running a short bonus section.  Stephen met us with a car first for aid, and after the delays we finally crossed the 50K line in 7:50.  Stephen then joined us for the 6 mile Ponkopoag loops, the flattest section of the course.  For me this was quite tough as I was at the longest I have run in 14 years and on the flat section there were fewer hills so fewer walking breaks. The highlight of this section was the crossing of the construction site over the highway.  Compared to the previous week’s training run, the area was more securely blocked off due to the fact that the first section of concrete was completely missing!   After “hopping” the barriers, fences, and caution tape, we had to cross either on the bare steel girder or some wooden ply lain over the open areas.  I chose the girder, figuring that it was more permanent and secure.

When we returned to Houghton’s at mile 37 (about 9:05) Chris left to do some hill repeats and I set out on the final 13 mile loop alone.  I was still running the flats and downs, just pretty slowly.  I felt I had a bad stretch after crossing Rte 28, slowing down even a bit more.  After the previous week’s training run I was confident that I could navigate this section without the map, but like so many others before me in the 50K, the course won.  I know I was looking for the turn from the pipeline to the CCC camp- it should be easy to spot since there is a sign on the tree-  but somehow I missed it.  The next turn also had a sign to the camp, so I took that one.   At that point I didn’t realize that I was running the loop the wrong way.  After some confusion at the end of the loop I realized what was going on and decided to just finish the loop backwards.  The confusion cost a few minutes and caused me to run a section of the pipeline that was not part of the course twice.  Anyone who has done the 50K has probably known this feeling at some point.  Fortunately, this mistake coincided with a pickup in my general energy and demeanor and I actually felt like I moved well from that point on.  After leaving the camp, most of the trail is extremely enjoyable single track or seldom used wider paths.   I stumbled on a couple lounging with a hammock between the poles on the “off trail” lookout from the top of Rattlesnake-  I took a quick look around and didn’t stay long.  I had been anticipating the “both hands and both feet” descent from Rattlesnake Hill since I saw the course design and it didn’t disappoint.  It was a fitting section for 45+ miles into a tough course.   The sky was getting noticeably darker as I ran some of my favorite trails on the course back to Chickatawbut, but the sun was still baking the open field after crossing the road in front of the education center.  I had some tired legs on the long downhill off of Chickatawbut Hill, but the closing adrenaline took care of that after I crossed Rte 28 the last time.  Here I was feeling pretty good and finally, after the long hot day, it felt like it was cooling off.  Stephen ran out to meet me for the last mile and got me to pick it up even more, somewhere I think under 9 minutes for the last mile.

Houghton’s was still mobbed at the finish after 7 pm.  I felt like my quicker pace earned me a little more respect than the slow jog I managed the previous time and a half around the pond hours earlier.  While I had cooled off since mid day, I was still eager to jump in the pond.  That got me thinking back to when people went in the pond after the DRB 50K.  Does anyone lay claim to that or remember others who did it?   I would bet water temp in April was a bit more “refreshing” than my dip into what Stephen said was 76 degree water.