Thanksgiving week was heavy on eating and light on ultramarathon racing throughout the United States. Still, for one Massachusetts man the holiday week included being thankful for finishing his first ultra. Milford’s Alex Kovner finished the Squatchy Leftovers 50K in New Jersey, and he gets this edition of the roundup all to himself.

Squatchy Leftovers

Among the things Alex Kovner had to be thankful for during Thanksgiving weekend was his first ultramarathon finish. Kovner began running trail races in 2019 and gradually upped the distance. After an unsuccessful effort at the Big Brad Ultras 50K in Maine in October, Kovner gave it another shot at the Squatchy Leftovers 50K on Saturday, Nov. 26, in West Orange, N.J. This time Kovner would not be denied.

Kovner, 62, of Milford, Mass., completed the 5K loop course 10 times and finished 26th overall in 6:27:09.

Forty-nine runners finished the race within 8 ½ hours, led by 34-year-old Sam Herreid of Bradley Beach, N.J., in 4:16:59. Herreid missed the course record by 34 seconds. Caressa Barth, 36, of Kihei, Hawaii, finished 14th overall, was the women’s winner and set a new women’s course record in 5:37:33.

Bryan Twomey, 40, of Norwich, Conn., was the only other New England resident among the finishers. Twomey completed the race in 8:26:13.

*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.