Stone Cat proved to be one of the most fun trail races I did last year (Disclosure: I only did three last year, and they were all a lot of fun).

This year’s Stone Cat will be Saturday Nov. 10. Stone Cat starts a bit early in the morning for my taste (6:15 a.m., so the 50 milers can finish by daylight), and it can be chilly that time of year, but absent snow it’s a pretty mellow race. The terrain is similar to the Groton Town Forest course: it’s rolling, but the climbs aren’t too long and the trail never gets too gnarly.

The course consists of a loop through the Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich, Mass. Marathoners run it twice. As one wise guy put it, the hills on the first loop are pretty gentle, but the climbs on the second loop are much tougher. A few people go for three loops, and the ultras go around four times for 50 miles. It’s strange to run a marathon and feel like you’re taking it easy.

My race last year got off to an inauspicious start: turning to look for a friend, I slipped and fell on a patch of ice on a basketball court in the playground near the start. Yup, 26 miles of trail, and I touched down on the one small, flat patch of asphalt.

The course was well marked with streamers, but that didn’t stop me from making a couple wrong turns. Thank goodness, some folks saw and called me back. There was only one somewhat confusing point, where a few people ran a whole lot of extra distance.

You don’t get too many spectators on trail runs, but at one point, roughly 2/3 of the way around the loop, a fellow wearing what looked like a paper-mache Stone Cat head was cheering us as though we were delivering catnip... or beer.

The aid stations were well stocked and staffed, and there was steaming hot chowder at the finish! Better yet, great swag: a really nice long sleeve shirt and duffle bag with the Stone Cat logo. No beer, though. How about that, Stone Cat?

UPDATE: Registration closed Nov. 5; there is no race-day registration for this one. The marathon was full up, just 20 spots left in the 50-mile race... so sign up early next year if you're interested!