In-person ultras are still limited in New England due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a handful are taking place. In fact, two took place during the Aug. 7-9 weekend. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the 50K open race at the Ragged 75 Stage Race in New Hampshire, but the stage race itself took place over three days and three point-to-point spans of trail. Additionally, the Moosalamoo 36-miler was held in Goshen, Vt., with a scaled-down field but plenty of fast times. Both events are featured in this edition of the roundup.

Ragged 75 Stage Race

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the Ragged 75 Stage Race’s open 50K event, but the three-day stage race itself still took place Aug. 7-9 in Danbury, N.H.

Stage one consisted of 22 miles, including trips to the top of Mt. Ragged and Mt. Kearsarge and 4,900 feet of climbing. Stage two featured 25 miles of running, around 4,300 feet of climbing and a trip to the summit of Mt. Sunapee. Then they closed out the weekend with a 33-mile effort with a grueling 6,300 feet of climbing on the final day.

Thirty-seven runners started the fourth annual event and 31 successfully completed all three stages. 

Brandon Newbould, 38, of Nottingham, N.H., took home the overall win in all three stages and set a new men’s course record with a three-day combined time of 13:11:34, knocking 56 minutes off of Brian Rusiecki’s previous record mark from 2017. Tom Starodaj, 33, of New Britain, Conn., was the runner-up in the first and third stages and placed second overall for the three-day event in 17:09:48. Jeffrey Delorey, 36, of Newmarket, N.H., was third in 17:22:53.

Buck Auchincloss, 26, of Brighton, Mass., was the top finisher from the Bay State, placing 10th overall for the three-day event in 21:11:46. Mark Brito, 42, of Billerica, Mass., finished in 26:15:50.

The women’s course record of 17:31:34, set by Leslie O’Dell and Amy Rusiecki in 2017, was safe this year. Anya Federowski, 42, of Barrington, N.H., topped the women’s field with a three-day time of 21:15:54, beating her closest competitor by more than 90 minutes. Kimberly Battipaglia, 48, of New Haven, Conn., was the women’s runner-up in 22:58:40, followed by Bernadette Taylor, 53, of Spring Lake, N.J., in 24:28:58. Serra Langone, 42, of Burlington, Mass., was the eighth-place woman in 25:42:51. Meredith Pinault, 43, of Belmont, Mass., was the 10th-place woman in 26:48:21. Catherine Bannish, 28, of Billerica, Mass., was also among the finishers in 31:02:35.

Moosalamoo Ultra

The ninth annual Moosalamoo 36-mile trail ultramarathon took place Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Blueberry Hill Inn in Goshen, Vt. The race had a reduced field due to COVID-19 restrictions, but that didn’t hurt the event in terms of competitiveness.

The top two men both dipped under the course record with Eric LiPuma, 27, of Stowe, Vt. ,(5:04:56) edging Tim Gruber, 26, of Goshen (5:11:56) for the win. Third-place finisher Erik Hinrichsen, 31, of Newton, Mass., posted the fourth-fastest time by a male ever on the course as he rounded out the podium in 5:48:49. Two more men from Massachusetts earned spots in the overall top 10 with Tom Dmukauskas, 44, of Somerville, placing sixth in 6:29:35 and William McElroy, Jr., of North Reading finishing 10th in 7:29:55.

In the women’s field, 49-year-old Christin Doneski of Hopkinton, N.H., earned the win while placing ninth overall in 7:11:36. Elizah Markwood, 22, of Norwich, Vt., (7:49:41) and Jasmine Daigle, 34, of Peru, Maine, (8:09:50) rounded out the women’s podium. Lisa Rising, 29, of Cambridge, Mass., was the top female finisher from the Bay State, placing fifth in the women’s field and 19th overall in 8:20:54.

*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.