Relaxed Reservoir Run
- Leaders
- David Charatan (B coC), Ishaan Chandratreya (coA)
- WIMP
- Hannah Schlueter
- Program
- Winter (outside IAP)
- Type
- Trail running
- Terrain level
- A
- Trip date
- Friday, March 13th, 2026
- Difficulty rating
- L3
- Prerequisites
- Physical fitness for running this distance; see details in trip description
Join us for a morning run of the Reservoir Trail at Middlesex Fells, a classic local trail run. It's about 6 miles and 700 ft of elevation gain. This will be a no-drop run: we will run at a pace that's comfortable for everybody on the trip.
We'll start running at 8:30 am at the South Dam Road Parking Lot and leave from MIT at 8:10 am if you're participating in the ride share. We expect to return to MIT between 10:15 and 10:45 am but possibly later depending on pace and traffic.
Prerequisites
Prior trail running experience is not required! This trip is fine as an introductory trail run, but you should be in good physical shape and have some hiking experience. As a rough guideline, you should:
- Be comfortable running 6 miles on flat road at a 9:00 to 10:00 min/mi pace (e.g., have done such a run in the last 3 months)
- Have done a hike with at least 1,000 ft of elevation gain in the last 6 months
If you don't satisfy the prereqs, you're welcome to sign up anyways, but please email the leaders describing your recent running experience and fitness routine so we can make sure this is the right trip for you.
If you're interested in joining after the signup period closes, please email the leaders so we can make sure we're set on logistics.
What to bring
Here's list of what you can expect to need based on similar runs. We will confirm which items are required in the pre-trip email, as it depends on the weather and trail conditions.
- Your phone
- What you've worn in the past for running in similar conditions -- if you are unsure what to wear / haven't run in similar conditions, please email the leaders!
- An additional warm layer (fleece / light puffy) in case we're slower than expected
- Microspikes (can be rented from MITOC)
- A way to carry the above when you're not using them (e.g. running vest)
- Water (can be left in the car)
The current trail conditions can be found here.
Ride Share
Please sign up for the ride share here after signing up for the trip! This trip is sometimes car-limited, so please sign up to drive if you're willing to do so! There is also an option to indicate alternative means of transportation if you don't need a ride. This will help us keep track of things.
Signup
- Algorithm
- first-come, first-serve
- Maximum participants
- 8
- Signups opened at
- Feb. 19, 2026, 12:13 p.m.
- Signups closed at
- March 12, 2026, 9 p.m.
- Notes
- Do you satisfy the prereqs? (yes/no)
- Do you have microspikes (yes/no -- if no, we can grab some from the MITOC office for you immediately before the run)
- Have you filled in the ride share spreadsheet? (yes/will do asap)