Ultra season has been hot in most New England states for at least a month now, but Rhode Island had yet to play host to a race in 2021. That was, until June 12. The Ocean State joined the fray with the long awaited first running of The 666 Trail Race, and it saw Newport local Ben Quatromoni deliver a dominant performance. Several other New England residents also ran beyond the marathon distance at that race, while a few others logged ultra finishes in the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest. There were likely more, though national reporting of results has been unusually slow this week, leading to some light reading in this week’s roundup.
The resurgent ultramarathon racing scene rolled into a new month with a solid start on June 5-6 as New England ultrarunners turned in strong performances at some challenging races throughout the East Coast. From impressive showings at the grueling Worlds End Ultras in Pennsylvania, to a crossing of Connecticut at the CUT, to the classic Old Dominion 100 and the Dam Yeti in Virginia, there were plenty of positive results for runners from the region.
What a way to close out May! A slew of regional ultras saw strong showings by runners from Massachusetts and greater New England. None of those performances were bigger than that of Shaun Daylor of Lakeville, Mass., and Jason Mosel of Corinth, Vt., who successfully completed 551 miles apiece to finish the 888K race at Infinitus in Vermont. Their efforts highlight a busy week that also included the return of Pineland Farms in Maine, the Run Ragged Last Person Standing race in Connecticut, and a big showing by three Massachusetts women at the Cow Bone Ultras in Maryland. Additionally, we’ve included results from two May 22 races, the 57-mile Cross-Connecticut Run for Mental Health Awareness and the Winchester, Mass., resident Tom Flummerfelt’s runner-up finish at the Keystone Backyard Ultra Last Person Standing race in Pennsylvania. That amounts to plenty of reading in this week’s roundup.
Pandemic restrictions are dropping and ultramarathon races are steadily opening back up. Now, New England is starting to hit its stride. A trio of regional ultras took place during the May 15-16 weekend with Manchester 2 Monadnock in New Hampshire, Six Hours at the Reservoir in Connecticut, and the Peak Blood Root Ultra in Vermont. Additionally, we’ve tracked down last week’s results from the Spring Fling 6-Hour in Connecticut. While most ultrarunners in the region stayed close to home these past few weeks, a few also made the trip to Georgia for the Cruel Jewel 100, so we’ve got that included, too. There’s plenty to read in this week’s roundup.
The return of the Riverlands 100 and the 100-mile debut of Pittsfield resident Kehr Davis highlight a roundup that also includes the Wildflower 50K in Texas and the inaugural running of the Cocodona 250 in Arizona. There were several more races in the Northeast and around the country, too, and we will try to include those next week if results become available.
The arrival of May meant the return of more in-person racing across the United States. Among the most notable for New England ultrarunners were the Ultra Race of Champions in Virginia where Vermont’s Aliza Lapierre raced to victory, and the 10th annual Big A 50K in Maine that featured a field consisting almost entirely of New Englanders and a dynamite debut performance Lila Gaudrault. Those races and more are featured in this week’s roundup.
The inaugural May Day Distance Classic took place on Saturday, May 1, 2021, at Cutler Park in Needham, Mass. Runners had 14 hours and 5 minutes – from sunrise to sunset – to run as many laps on a 6.6-mile loop trail course as they wanted. Partial laps counted in the results.
The continued success of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the United States has led to more in-person ultramarathons taking place across the country. The April 24-25 weekend was just the latest example as more than two-dozen in-person ultras took place throughout the country. Results have been slow to come in from many of them, but at least three included runners from New England.
The first in-person trail of the year in Massachusetts took place Sunday, April 18, with the return of the Trail Animals Running Club’s “Don’t Run Boston” 50K at the Blue Hills Reservation, but plenty of out-of-state racing also went down during the April 17-18 weekend. No place was more active for New England ultrarunners than Connecticut where a trio of events were held, including some record-setting performances at the Traprock 50K and the Enchanted Forest 6-Hour Ultra. As an in-state race, DRB will be featured in a separate story, but the Connecticut races lead off this week’s busy roundup.
After more than a year of race cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person ultrarunning is gradually returning to Massachusetts and local runners have a new opportunity to log some major mileage thanks to the Needham Running Club.
