A trio of Massachusetts residents squeezed in one last ultramarathon before the holidays when they traveled to races in California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania to explore new trails on Saturday, Dec. 14. Those races – the Rodeo Beach 50K, the Bell Ringer 50K and the Naked Nick 50K – make for light reading in this week’s roundup.

Rodeo Beach Trail Run

Fresh off her runner-up finish at the Farm to Farm Ultra 50K in Maine in early November, Amber Christoffersen closed out the year by heading to the West Coast to run the 15th annual Rodeo Beach Trail Run 50K on Saturday, Dec. 14, in Sausalito, Calif.

Christoffersen, 38, of Boston, Mass., took on a two-loop course, with the first loop covering 30K and the second loop covering the final 20K, amassing nearly 6,000 feet of vertical gain along the way while enjoying views of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and the California coastline.

Runners had nine hours to complete the race, and 93 did so within the time limit. Christoffersen finished in 6:57:26. Erin Spencer, 40, of Fresno, Calif., topped the women’s field in 5:12:24 while 28-year-old Paul Young of Normandy Park, Wash., was the top male in 4:14:30.

Bell Ringer 50K

After spending his first few years of ultrarunning in the New England area, 56-year-old Phil Tatro of Grafton, Mass., has branched out in recent years. In 2015, he traveled to California to race, and then he headed to Georgia in 2016. He took on a trail marathon in Kentucky in 2018, and he closed out 2019 with a trip to Tennessee to run the sixth annual Bell Ringer Trail Run 50K on Saturday, Dec. 14, at Montgomery Bell State Park in Burns, Tenn., near Nashville.

Tatro and his fellow runners weaved their way through the State Park on dirt trails that included plenty of ups and downs and technical sections. Ultimately, he finished the race in 8:50:10, one of 76 runners to complete the race.

Jimmy Warren, 31, of Golden, Colo., was the top male finisher and posted the second-fastest time in course history, winning in 4:35:56. Taylor Hidalgo, 25, of Nashville, Tenn., won the women’s race in 5:59:33.

Naked Nick 50K

Caroline Tanogren traveled to North Carolina for her first ultramarathon in 2018. She hit the road for Pennsylvania to take on her second ultra when she raced at the second annual Naked Nick 50K on Saturday, Dec. 14, in Leesport, Pa.

The race took place on the mostly smooth, highly runnable singletrack trails around Blue Marsh Lake, with 50K runners completing two out-and-backs with a lollipop loop in the middle of each lap and 3,000 feet of gain by the finish. Tanogren, 23, of Allson, Mass., was one of 122 runners to finish the race within the nine-hour time limit, posting a time of 7:35:17.

In the men’s race, 36-year-old Jeff Powers of Philadelphia, Pa., set a new course record by winning in 4:13:58. Corinne Williams, 38, of Enola, Pa., finished 13th overall and topped the women’s field in 5:13:45 for the second-fastest time on the women’s course record board.

*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.