The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the 14th edition of the TARC Spring Classic 50K, marathon, half marathon and 10K trail races on Saturday, April 25, 2026, at the Jericho Woods in Weston, Mass. A crowd of 402 runners toed the starting line for any of the four distances, which took place on a 10K loop course on mixed terrain trails in the forest.
The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the 30th annual “Don’t Run Boston” 50K and 17th edition of the DRB 50-miler on Saturday, April 19, 2026, at the Blue Hills Reservation in Milton, Mass. Runners took on an unmarked course through the reservation, amassing around 5,700 feet of elevation gain for the 50K and nearly 7,000 feet of climbing for the 50-miler.
While most of the New England running community eyed the upcoming Boston Marathon, some hearty ultrarunners from the region had their hearts set on running technical trails during the April 17-19 weekend. Some tackled the 30th edition of the Trail Animals Running Club’s “Don’t Run Boston” 50K and 50-Mile races on Sunday, April 19, at the Blue Hills Reservation. We will have that covered in a separate recap. But we lead off this week’s edition of the roundup with another tough New England race – the Traprock 50K in Connecticut, which saw prior champions reign again, on Saturday, April 18. Then we catch up on how New Englanders fared beyond the region as we catch up on results from New York, Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, and Missouri.
After winning the first three editions of the Spring Fever 8-Hour Ultra, Ed Donahue has finally been dethroned. Donahue has himself to thank for that. The 42-year-old from Abington, Mass., returned for the fourth annual event in Hingham on Saturday, April 11, but opted to race one of the event’s two sub-ultra distances instead.
A new trail ultrarunning event made its regional debut with the inaugural running of The Next Loop Endurance Series: New England on Saturday, April 11, at White Barn Farm in Wrentham, Mass. It was the lone scheduled stop in the region for the series, which also includes events in Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.
The April 10-12 weekend was hopping for ultramarathons in New England. A pair of events took place in Massachusetts – the Spring Fever 8-Hour in Hingham, and The Next Loop Endurance Challenge in Wrentham – both of which will be covered in separate recaps. Additionally, the region rejoiced with the return of the Runamuck 50K in Vermont following a two-year hiatus. The record-setting day at Runamuck leads off this edition of the roundup, but we also catch up on results for New Englanders at other races across the country, including in Virginia, Utah, California, Oregon and Illinois.
Results: The Next Loop Endurance Series – New England
The inaugural running of The Next Loop Endurance Series: New England took place on Saturday, April 11, 2026, in Wrentham, Mass. Runners took on a 5K loop course and had 10 hours to complete as many loops as they could, up to 10 loops for a 50K. Of the 50 runners who took part, 15 completed a 50K and three completed nine loops for 45K – slightly beyond the marathon distance. Those results are included here.
The fourth annual Spring Fever 8-hour ultra, 5-mile and 5K trail races took place Saturday, April 11, 2026, at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass. Runners took on a loop course consisting of mostly trails, some pavement, and rolling hills throughout the park.
The 2026 ultramarathon season in New England is starting to heat up. The April 3-5 weekend saw the first of four straight weekends with an ultra in Massachusetts as the Mt. Toby 50K took place in Sunderland. We’ll have that covered in a separate story, but here in this week’s roundup we are catching up on results from around the region and beyond. In Connecticut, the inaugural CT123 – a 200K journey across the state – took place. Additionally. We catch up on Maine resident Jason Geroux’s successful completion of the Arizona Monster 300-miler, and close out at the Fort Yargo Ultra 50K in Georgia.
Beast Coast Trail Running played host to the sixth running of the Mt. Toby Ultra and Trail Races on Saturday, April 4, in Sunderland, Mass. The event offered 50K, 24K and 13K distances on technical trails with plenty of climbing.