While the TARCkey Trot (separate article) attracted the largest crowd of New England ultrarunners to Wright-Locke Farm in Massachusetts during the Nov. 16-17 weekend, a few runners from the region headed West to tackle new trails. None had a bigger day than Kara Olivito who won the Chimera 100K outright in California. Several others took part in the North Face Endurance Challenge championship races in California, while others raced the 50-miler or 50K at Dead Horse in Moab, Utah. Those races are included in this week’s brief roundup.

Chimera 100K

A wild fire forced the 11th annual Chimera 100K to modify its course on Saturday, Nov. 16, but a Massachusetts resident wasn’t deterred by the change. Medford resident Kara Olivito, 37, delivered a strong performance on the Old San Juan Trail and Chiquito Trail in the Cleveland National Forest and won the race overall in 15:53:34. Her closest competitor, men’s winner Huiyu Cheng, 37, of Arcadia, Calif., finished more than two hours later. Six runners finished the race within 27 hours.

Olivito will race again on the West Coast at the Anza Borrego Cuyamaca 50-miler on Dec. 7 in Julian, Calif.

TNFEC – San Francisco

The North Face played host to its annual Endurance Challenge Championship event with 50-mile and 50K races on Saturday, Nov. 16 in Marin, Calif., and it featured a fiercely competitive 50-miler that was ultimately won by France’s Sebastien Spehler, 31, on the men’s side in 6:27:13 and 34-year-old YiOu Wang of Kentfield, Calif., on the women’s side in 7:21:57.

One New England resident joined them among the 461 finishers within the 14-hour time limit. Mae Polson, 35, of Somerville, Mass., finished in 12:05:39.

In the 50K race, 27-year-old Nicholas Handel of San Francisco, Calif. (3:58:11) and Corinne Shalvoy, 37, of Castle Rock, Colo. (5:00:10) won the men’s and women’s races to highlight the field of 517 finishers. Eight Massachusetts residents joined them in finishing the race, led by 28-year-old Boston resident Matthew Mulligan who placed seventh overall in 4:43:04. Others from the Bay State who finished were Eric Klawiter, 42, in 6:15:41; Christopher Gudas, 35, in 6:33:53; Lauren Duffy, 28, in 6:57:17; Sean Murray, 27, in 7:36:38; Amanda Cray, 37, in 8:14:12; Ceri Llewelyn, 30, in 8:21:24; and Shuo Lin, 28, in 8:54:06.

Dead Horse Ultra

The fifth annual Dead Horse Ultra 50-miler and 50K trail races were a popular draw on Saturday, Nov. 16, attracting hundreds of runners to Moab, Utah. That included more than a dozen runners from New England, one who finished on the podium.

Jack Kuenzle continued his string of strong performances as the 24-year-old from Roxbury, Conn., placed second in the 50-miler in 6:35:41. Only one runner was faster; Jeason Murphy, 39, of Glenwood Springs, Colo., brought home the win in 6:25:42. The top four runners finished in less than 7 hours. Anne Flower, 29, of Lexington, Ky., finished 12th overall and first in the women’s field in 7:43:40.

Kuenzle’s runner-up finish followed victories at the Kat’cina Mosa 100K in Utah on Aug. 3 and the Iron Mountain 50-miler in Virginia in late August. He also placed third at the Angeles National Forest 50K in California in July.

Three other New England residents were among the 169 finishers of the 50-mile race within 13 hours. Justin Hetherington, 34, of Providence, R.I., placed 36th in 9:08:10; Jennifer Stack, 31, of New Milford, Conn., was 55th in 9:32:18; and Filippo Imperiali, 55, of Weston, Conn., finished 57th in 9:33:56.

Additionally, another 370 runners finished the 50K race within 10 hours, including 14 New England residents. Jay McMahon, 23, of Brighton, Mass., was the top overall local finisher, placing eighth overall in 4:00:19. Jesse Wesolowski, 28, of Leadville, Colo., won the race in 3:41:14.

The first-place woman and 10th overall finisher, 24-year-old Nora Weathers, recently moved to Boulder, Colo., from Somerville, Mass. Weathers won the Fells Winter Ultra 32-mile race in a course-record time in December 2018.

Other New England residents who finished were Alex Braverman, 24, of Sudbury, Mass., in 5:04:55; Todd Devenish, 50, of Scarborough, Maine, in 5:39:12; Megan Searfoss, 54, of Ridgefield, Conn., in 5:49:58; Drake Meurant, 23, of Milford, Mass., in 5:52:56; Eleni Peterson, 26, of New Ipswich, N.H., in 6:08:03; Anna Blazejewska, 36, of Boxford, Mass., in 6:13:26; Kristen Trout, 34, of Ipswich, Mass., in 6:32:59; Rebecca Hill, 46, of Ipswich, Mass., in 6:33:00; Tova Levin, 31, of Boston, Mass., in 6:42:33; Leanne Tierney, 55, of Georgetown, Mass., in 6:58:33; Aimee Jefferson, 46, of Topsfield, Mass., in 7:56:55; Roy Van Buren, 57, of Woburn, Mass., in 8:32:33; and Claire Gladstone, 52, of Ridgefield, Conn., in 8:32:37.

*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.