July has been heating up in the West in terms of both temperature and ultramarathon racing, and several New England ultrarunners were right in the middle of it from July 16-21. They turned in gutsy performances at ultra classics like the Badwater 135 and Hardrock 100, as well as new soon-to-be classics like the West Coast edition of the Yeti 100. We have all of them – and a few more – covered in this belated roundup.
The summer racing season continued to heat up during the second weekend of July, with ultrarunners from New England scattering throughout the country to take on trail ultras. Results from many of those events have yet to be posted, but we have a few, including the second running of the 50K race at the Angevine Farm Trail Festival in Connecticut, the rugged Bigfoot Ultras in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, the scenic Mt. Hood 50 in Oregon, and the high-altitude Silver Rush 50-miler from Leadville, Colo. All of that combines for a jam-packed – yet incomplete – roundup.
The third running of the Chesterfield Gorge Ultra 100-mile, 100K, 50-mile, 50K and 25K races took place July 10-11, 2021, at the Chesterfield Gorge Reservation in West Chesterfield, Mass.
The Fourth of July weekend was a light one for ultramarathon runners in New England. There were no local ultras, and just a handful of runners from the region traveled for races further away. In fact, they didn’t even have to travel too far — just to nearby New York for the Finger Lakes 50s and to Pennsylvania for the Hell Hath No Hurry Ultras. Both races make for some light reading in this week’s roundup.
The June 25-27 weekend was dominated by attention on the Western States Endurance Run (see separate recap for New England results), but ultrarunning’s original 100-mile trail run wasn’t the only event of the weekend — far from it. New England ultrarunners turned in strong showings at races in the Northeast, including Manitou’s Revenge in New York, the Forbidden Forest 30-Hour Ultra in Connecticut, and the Catamount 50K in Vermont, as well as farther away at races including the Black Hills 100 in South Dakota. All of that made for a jam-packed roundup.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced ultrarunners worldwide to put their plans on pause. For Tim Furtado of Rehoboth, Mass., that meant delaying his 100-mile debut by a year. For the organizers of the Gunstock TrailFest in New Hampshire and the hundreds of runners who signed up, that meant waiting a year for the inaugural event to take place. During the June 19-20 weekend, Furtado finally got his shot at 100 miles and Gunstock made its debut. Those long-awaited events — as well as several others — are included in this week’s roundup.
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.
