Meet the ultrarunner taking on a 230-mile trail surrounding Boston
Cole Crosby hopes to run the Bay Circuit Trail in under three days.
When Cole Crosby graduated from college at the University of Oklahoma, he asked himself a question familiar to many post-grad students: What do I do next?
As a track and cross country athlete since his youth and throughout college, he told Boston.com one obvious answer came to mind: “I’m gonna go run a marathon.”
So, he signed up for the Oklahoma City Marathon, and to prepare for the event, he ran a 50-kilometer (31-mile) trail race called the Whiterock Ultra, just outside of Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“It started at a cemetery, it was what they call a ‘no fee, no frills [race].’ You don’t get a T-shirt, it’s just a really inexpensive, fun event that was community-driven,” he said.
He ended up winning the 50K race — and setting a course record. He later placed second in the Oklahoma City Marathon, his debut marathon.
“In a way, I was an ultrarunner before I was a marathoner,” he added, jokingly.
After the race in Arkansas, Crosby was hooked on ultrarunning, he said. “There’s just something about it: the community, being outside, the distance being this kind of ‘X’ factor in terms of, can I go the distance?”
His next run brings him to Massachusetts, where he plans to run the Bay Circuit Trail, a multi-use trail that runs more than 230 miles and winds through 37 cooperative towns in the Greater Boston Area. He’s running to bring awareness to East Coast trails and raise money for a food justice advocacy group.
At age 35, he’s taken on some of the longest and most extreme ultra-endurance running challenges in the world, including a 197-mile run across New Jersey and a roughly 340-mile, choose-your-own route run from the Santa Monica Pier to the iconic Welcome To Las Vegas sign (Speed Project Ultra Marathon).
“It was initially 341 miles on paper, but I made a few wrong turns and somehow got 346 miles.”
These races are considered ultramarathons, which are defined as any distance or race beyond 26.2 miles (42.195 kilometers). They take place in just about any environment and location, ranging from a traditional track to city roads, nature trails, mountains, and even in the snow.
The extremely long distances tend to attract a unique, “wild bunch of people that have crazy, audacious goals and dreams,” Crosby said.
“We call it a ‘soul sport.’”
‘One of Boston’s best-kept secrets’
The Bay Circuit Trail forms a crescent loop around Boston’s parameter. Crosby said it was one of the nation’s long-overlooked trails.
“So many people, even locals in all these different towns, may not even realize that they have a 200-mile trail in their backyard. So that’s a big motivational piece for me to go after this and hopefully, it brings to light that we have this resource right in our backyards.”
On Nov. 9 Crosby will attempt to set the fastest known time on the trail. He’s aiming to beat Scituate resident Matt Dibb, who completed the Bay Circuit Trail last year with a time of 3 days, 20 hours, 13 minutes, and 47 seconds.
“I’m looking to make a massive dent in that time goal and put a number that will shock people,” Crosby said. “I’m shooting for definitely under three days, so hopefully knocking about 20-plus hours off the record.”
While Crosby’s time goal is an important part of his plan, his main goal is to get the word out to Bostonians about the trail’s existence.
Bay Circuit Trail neighbors 4 million people in Eastern Massachusetts, and offers a variety of recreation options, including walking, biking, snowshoeing, horseback riding, and cross-country skiing. Many of its sections are accessible by the MBTA commuter rail and other public transit systems.
“This is your long-distance central park that’s just within a train ride away from you. It’s one of Boston’s best-kept secrets.”
The ultrarunning community is largely grassroots-oriented and is often community-led, Crosby said, as it’s not as commercialized as standard marathon running and other sports.
In places like Colorado, ultrarunning has become more commercialized and captured the attention of big corporate sponsors due to the state’s snow-capped mountain ranges, epic views, and high elevations, according to Crosby.
“You have athletes living in Leadville, Colorado, for example, which is 10,000 feet above sea level. That’s where the media focuses their attention, that’s where brands pool their resources for races and events, and support athletes financially with professional sponsorships and contracts,” he said.
As a result, ultramarathon athletes, races, and trails east of the Mississippi tend to struggle to gain visibility in the community, Crosby said.
“It’s been very much a grassroots effort and endeavor by these local communities to publicize and grow this sport that we all love. It doesn’t mean that our mountains are invalid. They’re just different,” he said.
‘My number one goal is to bring people together’
Crosby grew up in New Jersey and has spent nearly a decade as a proud New Englander. He said he is thankful to the running community in the northeast, which has welcomed him more than any of the other places he’s lived in his life.
“The gratitude that people showed me I want to be able to give back to them. Since I do have the ability to run far distances and do it well, I hope to inspire and unite people and bring positivity to the Greater Boston area and to New England in its entirety,” he said.
He encourages everyone, even those who don’t run, to be a part of the community.
“My number one goal is to bring people together. If you don’t feel comfortable running, you can still be a part of this great community. You can volunteer and help crew at a race. If you like to run a little bit but not a ton, maybe you can help pace some runners. It’s such an open and welcoming community.”
Crosby will also be fundraising for the Food Recovery Network at the race. The Food Recovery Network is an organization with chapters at colleges and universities across the country dedicated to redirecting nutritious surplus food to individuals in need, instead of being sent to a landfill.
You can follow Crosby’s progress along the course from anywhere using a live tracker.
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