Race for the Refuge

🌳 Race for the Refuge

The Highland City Striders welcome you to explore the trails at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Sudbury, MA! The Race for the Refuge begins at the ARNWR Visitor’s Center and traverses the beautiful trails around the Refuge. The course will lead runners into this idyllic nature refuge, past ponds, through pine and oak forests, and alongside mysterious military bunkers.

🏞️ Course Description

The double track trails are hard-packed earth and gravel and the loop includes about 2.5 miles of pavement and 140 feet of elevation gain, with a gentle hill about 2 miles in and a spicier one at mile 5. It’s a great course for beginner trail runners. For the advanced trail runner, it could be an opportunity for a new PR!

🎉 Events

• Walk: A 1-mile walk guided by the Friends of Woodlands and Waters.
• Races: 10K (1 loop) and 30K (3 loops) races.
• Timed Events: 3-hour and 6-hour timed events available.
• Loops: Runners may do as many loops as desired: a loop must be completed by 12pm for the 3-hour event and by 3pm for the 6-hour event.

📋 Race Day Rules

• Pacers: Not allowed.
• Dogs: Not permitted on Refuge lands.
• Children: Family-friendly but must be supervised.
• Littering: Grounds for immediate disqualification: please leave no trace!

🚰 Aid Stations and Course Marking

There will be two aid stations with typical trail race fare including water, hydration, hydration mix, pretzels, orange slices, banana halves, Swedish fish, coke, and ginger ale. The main aid station will be at the Start/Finish line. A second aid station at Taylor Road is about halfway through the loop. Note this is a cupless race.

All runners will receive a branded collapsible cup with registration! Pop it in your vest or pocket before you start!

The course will be marked for the runners with stake flags, cones, and mile marker signs. Two course marshals will be posted at key turns.

💵 Cancellation and Refunds

There are no deferrals and no refunds. Your entry fee will be considered a charitable donation and used for nature education and trail improvements. Thank you for your support.

🌿 About the Refuge

Centuries ago, these lands were hunted and fished by Nipmuc Tribes. Later, they were farmed by colonists, intersected by a railroad, and used for military training. You will run past military bunkers that were in use when the area was known as the Sudbury Training Annex, which was part of Fort Devens. The US Army transferred the land to the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2000, establishing the Refuge.

Since then, the Refuge has become home to freshwater wetlands, oak and pine forest, and shrubland that support many types of wildlife, including wading birds, songbirds, raptors, beaver, bobcat, white-tailed deer, and various reptiles and amphibians.

Proceeds from this race will help fund improvements to three refuge sites in MA and a volunteer coordinator who will assist visitors to the refuge with nature education and programming.

👟 Presented by the Highland City Striders

We are runners in Hudson, Marlborough, and surrounding communities. Founded in 2002, our members meet several times weekly to run various distances for fun and to keep in shape! We run, recover, have fun, and laugh together. The Highland City Striders is a non-profit 501(C)3. All race profits will go to local charities.

We are also working closely with Friends of Woodlands and Waters, a non-profit working in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to support our refuges. Check out their site to learn more and get involved!

📅 Event Information

The Race for the Refuge takes place on 2025-09-28 at Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, Sudbury, MA. For more information and to register, visit this link.