In Massachusetts, the July 7-9 weekend meant a packed course at Notchview Reservation in Windsor where the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the multi-day Notchview Ultra. We’ll have that covered in a separate story, but Notchview wasn’t the only popular draw for New England ultrarunners. Two other New England events – the Back Cove Backyard Ultra in Maine and the Aliza Lapierre Fan Club 50K in Vermont – also attracted strong turnouts and saw some big performances. Additionally, a few runners from the region ventured beyond New England to take on ultras in Maryland, Oregon and Colorado. We have them all covered in this edition of the roundup.

Back Cove Backyard Ultra

After a relatively quiet, low-key debut in 2022, the Back Cove Backyard Ultra saw a surge in both participation and mileage at the second annual event on July 8-9 in Portland, Maine.

Runners took on a 4.16-mile course that consisted of the 3.5-mile Back Cove Trail and a 0.6-mile stretch on the Bayside Trail to close out each loop, with a new loop starting on the hour, every hour, until only one runner remained.

Eighty-eight runners took part in the event, more than double the 36 from 2022. Sixty-seven runners surpassed the marathon distance, 31 ran at least 50 miles, and 13 achieved at least 100K (62.5 miles).

Seven runners went beyond 100K. Of that group, Laurie Russell, 52, of Auburn, Maine, was the first to stop. Russell finished her race as the second-place female with 83.34 miles. Next to stop was 35-year-old Kit Pang of Boston, Mass., who finished sixth overall with 87.5 miles. One lap later, both Whitney Pearson, 30, of Webster, N.H., and Michael Hofmann, 49, of Harpers Ferry, W.V., ended their races after 91.67 miles, leaving just three runners on the course. Pearson finished as the top female at Back Cove for the second year in a row. She was the first woman and second overall performer last year with 83.34 miles.

The top three performers all surpassed the 100-mile mark. Of that trio, 56-year-old John Eddyblouin of Bristol, Maine, was the first to retire after 104.17 miles. That left 38-year-old Jason Geroux of Orrington, Maine, and 28-year-old Danny Mejia of Portland, Maine, who continued on for a few more hours. Ultimately, Mejia stopped after 112.51 miles, leaving Geroux to continue for one more loop and secure the victory with 116.67 miles. For Geroux, the win marked a successful fourth attempt at the backyard format, and it followed his fourth-place finish at the Riverlands 100-miler in May. Geroux previously ran the Last Man Standing Ultramarathon event in New Gloucester, Maine, in 2019, 2020 and 2022 with his best performance coming in 2022 when he finished fourth with 105 miles. Mejia’s performance included a personal best for distance and his best showing in a backyard-style race. He finished 16th overall at Bubba’s Backyard Ultra in New Hampshire in 2022 with 101.5 miles.

Aliza Lapierre Fan Club 50K

In a unique twist, the Richmond Trail Running Club’s second annual Aliza Lapierre Fan Club 50K had a special guest in its field of entrants: the event’s namesake herself.

Aliza Lapierre, a Richmond resident and Vermont ultrarunning legend, joined her friends in taking on the point-to-point course from Huntington to Richmond, Vt., on Saturday, July 8. The event raised funds for the Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe’s “Abenaki Helping Abenaki” Fund and brought together numerous runners from the local trail- and ultrarunning community as well as from throughout the region.

After covering 23 miles of technical trails and eight miles of road and amassing more than 5,000 feet of climbing, Lapierre topped the women’s field as the 43-year-old finished in 6:12:35, good for seventh overall. Clare Salerno, 26, of Morrisville, Vt., was the women’s runner-up in 7:12:36, and 32-year-old Jenn Cadorette of Essex Junction, Vt., rounded out the podium in 7:36:32. Topping the men’s field was Jurdan Mossburg, 28, of South Burlington, Vt., who won by a four-minute margin in 5:35:36. Jason Mazurowski, 36, of East Calais, Vt., was a close second in 5:39:20, and third-place Jacob Henricks, 26, of Burlington, Vt., followed moments later in 5:41:12. John Paul Krol, 38, of Fryeburg, Maine, and Ari Ofsevit, 38, of Cambridge, Mass., rounded out the overall top five in 6:00:35 and 6:03:16, respectively.

Twenty-eight runners finished the race within 10 hours.

Catoctin 50K

A year ago, Samuel Couture traveled to Arizona for his ultramarathon debut at the Stunner Night Runs 50K. For his second ultra, Couture once again ventured beyond New England.

Couture, 23, of Essex, Vt., traveled to Frederick, Md., and took on the Catoctin 50K.

More than 150 runners toed the starting line of the race on Saturday, July 8. After 9 1/2 hours, 97 of them ultimately finished the out-and-back course in Cunningham Falls State Park. Couture finished 23rd overall in 7:25:04 as the lone New England finisher. Patrick Blair, 42, of Cantonsville, Md., led all runners in 5:26:12.

Siskiyou Out Back

When Antony Keller sought to run his first ultramarathon in 2017, he traveled to Oregon and took part in the Perpetua Coast 50K. Six years later, Keller returned to Oregon for his second ultra – this time the 100K at the 24th annual Siskiyou Out Back Running Festival on Saturday, July 8, in Ashland, Ore., and he turned in a very strong performance.

Keller, 36, of Jamaica Plain, Mass., was one of 89 runners who finished the race – much of it on the Pacific Crest Trail – within 17 hours. He also was among the fastest runners to conquer the course and its 10,500 feet of climbing, placing seventh overall in 11:45:29. Jace Ives, 39, of Ashland, Ore., topped the field in 9:56:47 and was the lone runner to break the 10-hour mark.

In addition to the 100K, the festival also included 50-mile and 50K ultras. No New England residents were among the finishers at those distances.

Timothy Olson, 39, of Boulder, Colo., won the 50-mile race in 9:30:35, six minutes ahead of overall runner-up and women’s champion Molly Schmelzle, 43, of Ashland, Ore., who finished in 9:36:58. She previously won the race in 2017. Aaron Reed, 41, of Medford, Ore., and Felice Kelly, 42, of Portland, Ore., were the men’s and women’s winners of the 50K in 4:20:25 and 4:47:49, respectively.

Silverton Alpine Marathons

Angie Langevin spent several years running trails while living in Chattanooga, Tenn., but her recent move to New England included another big change – a jump up in distance – as the 35-year-old resident of Coventry, Conn., decided to take on her first trail ultramarathon.

Langevin made her ultra debut in the 50K race at the Silverton Alpine Marathons on Saturday, July 8, in Silverton, Colo. The high-altitude challenging loop course took runners on the Alpine Loop trail through four ghost towns, with the entire course above 9,000 feet of elevation and a high point just shy of 13,000 feet with 3,800 feet of total climbing.

There were 144 finishers within 10 1/2 hours, and Langevin finished 54th overall and 15th in the women’s field in 6:52:44. Corinne Shalvoy, 41, of Castle Rock, Colo., topped the women’s field and finished seventh overall in 5:15:33 while Nicholas Parton, 37, of Colorado Springs, Colo., led the men in 4:35:32.

*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.