After several weeks with trail ultramarathons in the New England region, the opening weekend of October was relatively quiet as many runners tapered for the upcoming Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail 100-mile, 50-mile and 30-mile races. Still, a few dozen runners gathered in New Hampshire for the second running of Bubba’s Backyard Ultra, and that event gets this week’s roundup all to itself.

Bubba’s Backyard Ultra

A year ago, Ed Clifford needed 86 miles to win the inaugural Bubba’s Backyard Ultra.

On Saturday, Oct. 3, Clifford returned to Center Conway, N.H., to defend his title at the second annual event. Clifford successfully did so, but the 55-year-old resident of Raymond, N.H., had to log quite a few more miles over several more hours to get the job done at the Last Person Standing event.

Clifford circled the 3.5-mile loop course once an hour for 34 hours straight, amassing 119 miles to claim victory. John Paul Krol, 35, of Waitsfield, Vt., was second with 115.5 miles, and Nathan Lamarre, 25, of Moultonborough, N.H., finished third with 112 miles.

Forty-four total runners took part in the event, but the top three were the only ones to surpass the 100-mile mark. John Roy, 26, of Seekonk, Mass., finished fourth overall with 84 miles, while Remington Stone, 27, of Conway, N.H., placed fifth with 73.5 miles, and 21-year-old Jack Spaulding of Clinton, Mass., was sixth with 70 miles. 

Suz Laughland, 46, of Silver Lake, N.H., and Molly Karp, 38, of Natick Mass., were the top women with 52.5 miles apiece. Sonya Lapierre, 44, of Woodsville, N.H., was third among the women with 49 miles, followed by 35-year-old Kristen Smith of Danvers, Mass., with 45.5 miles.

*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.