October finished with a flurry of strong performances by ultrarunners from New England, but none had a bigger weekend than Tyler Andrews. The resident of Concord, Mass., took on a massive, speedy field at the high-profile Javelina Jundred – though he raced the 100K rather than the 100-miler – and Andrews brought a victory back to the Bay State. His performance leads off a busy roundup that also includes the Mountain Masochist 50 in Virginia, Tussey Mountainback 50 in Pennsylvania, the Chicago Lakefront 50 in the Midwest, and a belated recap of the popular Bimbler’s Bluff 50K in Connecticut.

Javelina Jundred

Two years ago, Tyler Andrews took home the win at the Tussey Mountainback 50-miler in Virginia. After an extended break from racing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrews returned to the starting line this summer and finished 16th overall at Leadville in his 100-mile debut. The 31-year-old resident of Concord, Mass., was back at it in the 100K race at the Javelina Jundred on Oct. 30-31 in Fountain Hills Ariz., and he hammered out a victory in 8:49:09. His closest competitor, 34-year-old Forrest Ward of Diamond Springs, Calif., followed five minutes later in 8:54:40. They were the only runners of the 198 finishers to complete the race in less than nine hours. Cat Bradley, 29, of Boulder, Colo., led the women’s field and finished third overall in 9:45:13.

Three other New England residents also competed in the 100K, with William Ozanne, 42, of Darien, Conn., finishing 12th overall and sixth among the men in 11:58:17. Sarah Brenner, 26, of Somerville, Mass., earned her first 100K finish while placing 34th overall in 14:28:28. Additionally, 54-year-old Rick Fijalkowski of Tyngsboro, Mass., finished 154th in 19:54:50.

While Andrews had the highest finish of any runner from New England, five more residents from the region logged more mileage as they completed the 19th annual race’s main event: the 100-miler. Jesse Howes, 40, of Suffield, Conn., was the top New England finisher, placing 29th overall in 19:48:03. Joining him in finishing in under 24 hours was Gregory Lowe, 57, of Ipswich, Mass., who placed 69th in 23:00:27. Additionally, 42-year-old Sean Meehan of Canton, Conn., finished in 24:46:36; Kristin Lundy, 51, of Charlotte, Vt., finished in 25:14:42; and 45-year-old Blake Pomeroy of Rowley, Mass., endured the desert heat and finished in 26:21:41.

Arlen Glick, 28, of Massillon, Ohio, led the men in 13:14:51, while 39-year-old Camille Herron of Oro Valley, Ariz., finished fourth overall and set a new women’s course record in 14:03:23. Runners in the 100-miler had 30 hours to complete the course, and 292 did so within the time limit.

Mountain Masochist

Kate Mingle has had quite the fall racing season. After winning the Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run 30-miler in New York in September and placing second at the Runamuck 50K in Vermont in October, the 30-year-old resident of Cambridge, Mass., returned to the top of the podium when she raced the Mountain Masochist 50-miler on Saturday, Nov. 6, in Montebello, Va.

Racing on a course that challenged runners with more than 9,000 feet of climbing, Mingle finished ninth overall and led the women’s field in 9:10:13. McLane Grow of Roanoke, Va., led the men in 7:59:31.

Runners had 13 hours to complete the course, and 128 did so within the time limit. Included in that group were Marc Anderson and Abigail Anderson of Marblehead, Mass., who ran the race together and finished seconds apart in 12:12:29 and 12:12:32, respectively. Additionally former Massachusetts and Vermont resident John Fegyveresi, now of Flagstaff, Ariz., finished 90th overall in 11:53:42.

In the inaugural running to Mountain Masochist’s 50K race, Garrett Pitt of Stratham, N.H., blazed to a second-place overall finish in 4:44:18, trailing only Joshua Thomas of Crozet, Va., who won the race in 4:40:41. Rachel Spaulding of Blacksburg, Va., led the women’s field and finished fourth overall in 4:54:16. Sixty-two runners completed the 50K and its 5,600 feet of climbing within 10 hours.

Tussey Mountainback

It was a remarkable ultramarathon debut performance for 21-year-old Carl Hill of Massachusetts at the Tussey Mountainback 50-miler on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Boalsburg, Pa. Hill raced with the leaders from the start and held his own throughout before ultimately finishing second overall in 6:39:34. Only 28-year-old Charles Remillard of Colorado went faster, winning in 6:20:11. Trevor Fye, 27, of Pennsylvania joined them as the only runners to break seven hours, finishing third overall in 6:52:30. Pennsylvania resident Miquela Ingalls, 32, led the women’s field and finished fifth overall in 7:22:02.

Emily Korzeniewski, 29, of Connecticut was the only other New England resident among the 54 finishers within the 13-hour time limit. She placed 39th in 11:00:22.

Chicago Lakefront 50M

A pair of Massachusetts women together ran their second 50-mile ultramarathons and set new personal records at the Chicago Lakefront 50 on Saturday, Oct. 30, in Chicago, Ill. Eliza Duddy, 33, and Shonda Morris, 43, ran the JFK 50-miler last November in Maryland and took more than 10 hours to complete the course. In Chicago, they finished together in 8:50:41, tied for 16th place out of 31 finishers within the 12-hour time limit. Illinois residents Jimmy Kasper, 41, and INga Maurer, 38, led the men’s and women’s fields in 6:53:12 and 7:55:22, respectively.

Additionally, another 117 runners finished the event’s 50K option. Included among those finishers was 81-year-old Bernd Heinrich of Maine who placed 59th overall in 6:14:28.

Bimbler’s Bluff 50K

After a year off due to the pandemic, the Bimbler’s Bluff 50K returned for its 13th running on Sunday Oct. 24, in Guilford, Conn. Two years may have passed since the event’s last running, but the result was the same for Ian Connell: a victory.

Connell, 25, once again dominated his hometown trails as the Guilford resident earned his second straight victory on the course. His time of 4:21:16 was 11 minutes faster than his winning time in 2019, and it was the third-fastest mark in course history. Jeff Grant, 40, of Woodbridge, Conn., was a distant second in 4:52:37, followed by Mark Hartman, 34, of North Kingstown, R.I., in 5:09:21. Lee Davis, 40, of Hamden, Conn., narrowly missed finishing on the podium as he finished fourth in 5:11:48.

Recent Connecticut transplant Ella Carr, 20, made her New England debut a victorious one as she topped the women’s field in 5:55:54. Stephanie Hodge, 56, of New York earned her eighth Bimbler’s Bluff finish and second runner-up finish in 5:57:23, followed by Jamie Miller, 39, of North Haven, Conn., in 6:05:16.

Matthew Marden, 43, of Framingham, Mass., led the Bay State contingent finishing 11th overall in 5:54:11. Lisa Rising, 30, of Cambridge, Mass., was the top Bay State woman finisher, placing 34th overall and sixth among the women in 6:37:34.

*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.