Midstate Massive and Ghost Train are on the horizon for hundreds of ultrarunners in New England, meaning the final weekend of September was either the last big preparatory race or the start of taper time. For some, the final tune-up came at a New England classic – the Vermont 50 – where hundreds of ultrarunners took on the hilly dirt roads and scenic foliage of the Vermont countryside. Others made the weekend their focal race of the fall, including a trio who headed west to Utah for the rugged Bear 100. Still others like Marshfield’s Mari Engelhardt used the weekend as a measuring stick for progress – she improved on her eighth-place finish at the 2021 Water Gap 50K by bringing home the victory this year. Those races and more are featured in this edition of the roundup.

From New Hampshire to Virginia, all the way out to Colorado, Part 2 of our roundup from the Sept. 16-18 weekend focuses on big, burly courses. We start in New Hampshire with the brutal Kilkenny Ridge 50-miler that took runners over two of the state’s 4,000-foot peaks twice. From there, we head south to Virginia to the Beast Coast classic Grindstone 100-miler before closing out at the high-altitude Run Rabbit Run 100-miler in Colorado.

The jam-packed September racing calendar rolled on during the Sept. 16-18 weekend, and that means another two-part roundup is necessary to capture the action of the New England crew. We’ll catch up on the Kilkenny Ridge 50-miler, Grindstone and Run Rabbit Run in Part 2, but here in Part 1 we’ll catch up on Daniel Grip’s pursuit of the course record at the Forgotten Forest 9-Hour Ultra in Connecticut, and then head to Colorado for the Red Feather Trail Jamboree before closing out with the Barkley Fall Classic in Tennessee and the Pawling 24-Hour Trail Festival in New York. There’s plenty to read – and that’s just Part 1!

September is typically the busiest month of the ultrarunning racing calendar, and the Sept. 9-11 weekend was no exception with dozens of races throughout the country – including a few in New England, including the popular TARC Fall Classic in Massachusetts that attracted more than 300 runners. Part One of this week’s roundup featured the Groton Forest Trail Run in Vermont, Megunticook 50K in Maine, Tunxis and Macedonia trail ultras in Connecticut, and the Hainesport Hundred in New Jersey. Here in Part Two we feature wins by two Massachusetts residents at the Shawangunk 70-mile and 30-mile ultras, and also catch up on Virgil Crest, the Wasatch 100 and the Pine Creek Challenge.

September is typically the busiest month of the ultrarunning racing calendar, and the Sept. 9-11 weekend was no exception with dozens of races throughout the country – including a few in New England. The Trail Animals Running Club’s TARC Fall Classic (separate recap to come) was by far the largest attraction in the region, but several runners took on other races in the region and across the country. In fact, so many did so that this week’s roundup will be a two-parter. Here in Part One we recap Mead Binhammer’s record-seeing run at the slightly-beyond-the-marathon Groton Forest Trail Run 26.5-miler, as well as the Megunticook 50K in Maine, Tunxis and Macedonia trail ultras in Connecticut, and then catch up on the Hainesport Hundred from Sept. 3-4. Part 2 will include Virgil Cres, Shawangunk, the Wasatch 100 and the Pine Creek Challenge.

Results have been slow to trickle in from a jam-packed Labor Day weekend of racing, but results are in from a few races beyond the Bay State that saw New England residents among the finishers – and both had quite a few. First up, the fourth edition of the Firebird Trail Races in Maine saw Mary Iaculli and Jay Frontierro set women’s and men’s course records with big performances. A day later, 11 runners from the region finished the grueling The Rut 50K, and former Vermont resident David Sinclair smashed MUT king Kilian Jornet’s course record by five minutes. Both of those races are included in this edition of the roundup.

While much of the ultrarunning world was focused on the European Alps and the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc festival with its week-long series of races and thousands of runners, a new event quietly made its debut in the White Mountains that put the beast in “Beast Coast.” After years of work, White Mountain Endurance introduced the world to the Jigger Johnson Ultras. Eighteen runners ultimately finished either the 100K or 50-mile offerings while also checking off multiple 4,000-foot peaks. As the new kid in the neighborhood, this race leads off this edition of the roundup.

While much of the ultrarunning world was looking ahead a week to the UTMB races in Europe, the focus of several New England ultrarunners was directed stateside at tough races in Colorado and New York. Several New Englanders took part in the classic 100-mile “Race Across the Sky” in Leadville, Colo., while many more threw down on a challenging course in New York at the Twisted Branch 100K. Both races are featured in this edition of the roundup.