Winter has taken hold in New England, and while cold-weather fatass-style events have filled the Massachusetts ultra calendar early in the year a handful of runners from the region sought out warmer weather and drier trails during the Jan. 18-19 weekend at the 10th annual Coldwater Rumble Ultras in Goodyear, Ariz.

No runners from the region took part in the 100-mile race, but New England was represented well at the 52-mile and 52K distances. 

Connecticut resident Tom Starodaj was among the top performers in the 52-miler. The 32-year-old from New Britain wasn’t able to keep up with overall winner Nicholas Mamrak, 24, of New York, N.Y. – but nobody else was, either. Starodaj won by more than two hours in 7:21:59. The battle for second was tight between three runners, though, and Starodaj was right in the mix. He raced in close contact with Joshua Slykhuis, 36, of Fernie, B.C., and Alfredo Jiminez, 37, of Phoenix, Ariz., and the runner-up spot was in question until the final miles. Ultimately, Slykhuis took second in 9:41:46, followed by Starodaj in third in 9:44:59. Jiminez was a close fourth in 9:47:41.

The top woman finisher, 29-year-old Jill Burnham of Brainerd, Minn., placed sixth overall in 10:36:06.

Joining Starodaj as a New Englander in the top-10 was 33-year-old Simon Guerard of Cambridge, Mass. Guerard placed 10th overall and ninth in the men’s field in 11:19:16.

Fifty runners completed the 52-miler within 23 hours.

Another 76 runners completed the 52K within the 12-hour time limit. Two of them were from New England. Benjamin Frechette, 29, of Somerville, Mass., successfully completed his first ultra, placing in a tie for 31st in 6:04:33. Additionally, 49-year-old Rob Leder of Stamford, Conn., finished 52nd in 7:36:50. Daniel Nix, 29, of El Paso, Texas, won the race in 4:16:35.

*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.