The seventh running of the Trail Animals Running Club’s To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra and “heavy” 5K took place on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners raced on a 3.5-mile trail loop, either once for the “heavy” 5K or multiple times for the 6-hour event.
Boston resident Laura Ricci headed west to Washington state to have a family reunion run at the Chuckanut 50K. Meanwhile, former Boston resident Joe McConaughy journeyed from Seattle back east to Tennessee where the FKT phenom made his debut appearance at the notorious Barkley Marathons. Additionally, New England ultrarunners represented at ultras in North Carolina and California during the March 18-19 weekend, and we have them all included in this edition of the roundup.
From desert trails to sandy coastal dunes, to wooded trails just outside of big cities, several New England ultrarunners found scenic places to race during the March 10-12 weekend. A few of them returned home with podium finishes added to their ultra resumes. That included a 50-mile victory by Massachusetts’ Matthew Geary and a runner-up finish by Connecticut’s Caitlin Roston at the Squatchapple Trail Races in nearby New Jersey, as well as a third-place finish by Rhode Island’s Samantha Jorgensen at the Old West Trails 50K in California in her ultra debut. Those speedy performances lead off this edition of the roundup.
As March arrived in New England, a new round of cold weather swept the region. Several ultrarunners avoided the colder temperatures, opting for warmer weather destinations to race during the March 3-5 weekend. From Nevada and the Jackpot Ultra Festival, to Delano Park in Alabama, to Arizona’s Old Pueblo Endurance Runs and the women-only No Man’s 50K in Virginia, we have them all covered in this edition of the roundup.
February is traditionally one of the quietest months of the ultrarunning calendar, especially here in New England. Sure, several folks were willing to endure the sub-zero conditions of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra, but many of them were decked out in ski gear to combat the temperature. That made sense since … well … it’s still ski season. More than 100 New Englanders took that to heart during the Feb. 10-11 weekend when they took part in the fourth edition of the Last Skier Standing ultra ski race in Rumford, Maine. Additionally, several New Englanders took part in the Snow Devil Snowshoe Ultra 100-miler and 100K on Feb. 10-11 in Vermont and the Endurance Society’s Frigus Snowshoe Festival 30-Hour Ultra on Feb. 17-18 in New York, though results were unavailable for either event as of this posting. Not content to stick around the Northeast for winter ultra action, a number of New Englanders headed to Arizona on Feb. 18-19 to take on the trails of the Sonoran Desert at the Black Canyon Ultras. A bit of cold weather action and some warm weather fun are featured in this edition of the roundup.
February is traditionally one of the quietest months of the ultrarunning calendar, especially here in New England. Sure, several folks were willing to endure the sub-zero conditions of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra, but beyond that the ultrarunning calendar is mighty quiet. Still, while folks were battling the cold at the Frozen Yeti, there were several New Englanders who opted for warmer climates to race during the Feb. 4-5 weekend. A handful of New Englanders raced the Rocky Raccoon 100-miler in Texas and another competed at a 50K in California’s Bay Area. We have them covered in this edition of the roundup.
The Trail Animals Running Club played host to its fourth running of the TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra and 15-mile night trail race on Feb. 4-5 at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners in the ultra were treated to the coldest Frozen Yeti on record as a historic cold snap blasted the region, leading to a -9 degree Fahrenheit temperature at the start with -28 degree wind chill. Ultimately, 47 runners logged ultra mileage and another 44 completed the 15-miler.
Ultramarathon racing in New England has been relatively quiet thus far in 2023, but it has already been a busy year for runners from the region who are willing to travel. January closed out with a busy weekend for ultrarunners from the region as they traveled to nearby New York, far-away California and Utah, and a handful of other destinations throughout the country to race. We may have missed a few, but we have several of them covered in this edition of the roundup.
Snow has started making its way into New England, and a handful of ultrarunners from the region headed for warmer climates to race during the Jan. 14-15 weekend. A few headed to the U.S. Virgin Islands, including Maine’s Nikolas Franks who capped the trip with a course-record performance. Others traveled south to Florida for the Long Haul 100, while a few more traveled to Hawaii and Arizona for 100-mile ultras, including Rhode Island’s Justin Hetherington who raced to a podium finish at the Coldwater Rumble. Those warmer weather races produced some feel-good results for New Englanders, and we have them covered in this edition of the roundup.
Bandera, Texas, was the main attraction for North American ultrarunning during the Jan. 7-8 weekend, and a handful of New Englanders were there to join in the fun, including Vermont’s Kasie Enman and Massachusetts’ Elena Horton who secured top-10 finishes in the 100K. Additionally, Vermont’s Nigel Bates traveled to North Carolina and brought home a 50K victory, and New Hampshire’s Kerri Haskins kicked off the year with a 50K in Virginia. The 2023 season is off to a fast start, and we have it covered in this edition of the roundup.