Jake Dissinger spent the 2015 season racing at the front of the pack, highlighted by first-place finishes at the Cape Cod Trail Race 50K, BURCS Summer Fat Ass 6-Hour Run, and the Six Hours in Paradise 6-Hour Race.

Dissinger kicked off 2016 with another victory, this time at the Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug Ultra Races on Saturday, April 24, in New Preston, Conn.

Dissinger, 34, of Leeds, Mass., cranked out the fastest time in the 50K race. His winning time of 3:42:15 edged out William Cahill, 22, of Tariffville, Conn., by four minutes. Of the 44 finishers, they were the only two to finish in less than four hours.

Kenneth Wilson, 54, of Pittsfield, Mass., joined Dissinger in the top 10, placing ninth overall in 4:43:43. Bennjamin Griffin, 29, of Pittsfield, placed 14^th overall in 5:07:01.

Jess McBeck also turned in a strong performance. The 25-year-old from South Hadley, Mass., finished 16^th overall and was the second-place female finisher in 5:16:23. Kelly Adams, 39, of Hingham, Mass., was the fourth female finisher in 5:24:40.

Other finishers from Massachusetts were Agnieszka Valenta, 32, of Palmer (5:33:26); Ana Wolf, 44, of Cummington (5:58:07); Tonya Tessier, 40, of Milford (6:48:01); Lee Dickey, 62, of Dracut (6:48:38); Trevor Jillson, 27, of Shrewsbury (7:02:23); and Clifford Lange, 58, of Medfield (9:38:02).

The 100K was the longest race of the running festival, and it featured the smallest finishers’ field with nine runners completing the distance. Scott Defusco, 40, of Beverly, Mass., was the runner-up in 9:40:52, trailing only event champion Angie Darbyson, 34, of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, who won in 8:51:14.

Michael Condella, 28, of Revere, Mass., also finished the 100K, taking seventh in 12:11:35.

In the 50-mile race, a pair of Massachusetts ultrarunners were among the 20 finishers. James Gawle, 64, of Webster, finished 14^th in 10:20:17. Donald Pray, 66, of South Deerfield, placed 16^th in 10:43:54.

Mendocino Coast 50K

Mischa Hedges traveled cross-country to represent the Bay State at the Mendocino Coast 50K on Saturday, April 23, in Mendocino, Calif.

Hedges, 32, of Boston, Mass., was one of 108 runners to finish ahead of the nine-hour time limit. She placed 40^th overall in 6:09:34.

The overall champion was one of the fastest runners in the country. Zach Bitter, 30, of Davis, Calif., completed the course in 3:55:36 and won by a 10-minute margin.

Gale Blazes to Victory at Traprock 50K

Colton Gale dominated the Traprock 50K on Saturday, April 16, in Bloomfield, Conn.

Gale, 25, of Beverly, Mass., smoked the course in 4:15:01, earning the victory with more than a 16-minute cushion on the second-place finisher. His winning time was the sixth-fastest ever in the seven-year history of the event, placing him in the company of Bay State trail-blazers Ben Nephew and Brian Rusiecki who turned in some of the fastest performances ever at Traprock.

Tom Dmukaskas, 40, of Somerville, Mass., finished 11^th overall in 5:17:05; and Gregory Esbitt, 42, of Salem, Mass., placed 12^th in 5:17:34. Gregory Lowe, 52, of Ipswich, Mass., also cracked the top 20, placing 16^th overall in 5:28:47.

A total of 94 runners finished the race.

Full results from Traprock can be found here.

*Editor’s Note: Results are found on a variety of sites, including ultrasignup.com, UltraRunning Magazine, and official race websites. We do the best we can to find as many results as possible to report on and recognize the local ultrarunning community.