Tarc Wapack and Back
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About the race
The TARC Wapack and Back is a trail race held along the Wapack Trail in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, offering three distance options:
- 21.5 mile
- 43 mile
- 50 mile
The route follows the Wapack Trail from Mount Watatic toward North Pack Mountain and includes rocky ledges, boulder fields, granite slabs, single track with roots and rocks, and some short sections of fire road. The trail gains about 4,600 feet of elevation each direction; the full 50 mile course accumulates roughly 10,800 feet of elevation. The Wapack Trail is blazed with yellow triangle markers and will have minimal additional course markings.
Aid stations provide water and an electrolyte mix, with stations no more than 7.5 miles apart; food offerings are basic. Participants in the longer distances may use small drop bags to specified aid locations; bags must be labeled and collected by the stated deadline or they will be forfeited. Bathrooms include porta potties at parking areas and at the Fitchburg Sportsmen's Club.
The event enforces time cutoffs at intermediate checkpoints; participants who miss cutoffs may be removed. Headlamps are required for the 43 and 50 mile fields at the start and may be left at a designated aid station for retrieval. The race is manually timed. The event is run by a volunteer nonprofit and donates profits to land conservation. A Leave No Trace policy and a land acknowledgement apply. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.
