There are at least two Wapack Trail races, and I plan to do at least one of them this year.

What seems to be the original Wapack Trail Race of the two, an 18-mile out-and-back race from Windblown Ski Touring (Route 124 in New Ipswich) to Watatic and back  is set for Sept. 2.

Besides the convenience of finishing where you start, the race begins at 9 a.m., an usually civilized hour for trail racing. That one is part of the Western Mass. Athletic Club’s Grand Tree series, which makes it all the more attractive.

On the other hand, I like the idea of running the trail end-to-end, too, and another race series, the MorFun Wapack Trail Races  would entail just that.

MorFun offers 12, 21, 42 and even a 50 mile course. The latter, the organizer brags, has 12,600 feet of elevation gain, about 40% more than the Vermont 50. Count me out of that one! Even running the Wapack end to end would be an enormous challenge, I think. The elevation gain on a single pass has got to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 6,000 feet, and there are some pretty tricky sections.

The MorFun races are scheduled the Saturday before Mother’s Day (May 12, this year). Last year, you may recall, that was an exceptionally wet weekend. Even so, according to the event Web site, 21 people turned out to run, and at least two local guys finished the full 21.4 mile length of the trail.

Congrats and salutations to Shad H. of Milford, Mark W. of Nashua and every other tough nut who ran it. I’d love to hear about your experience. Maybe I could run both...