Ultrarunners from across the country flocked to New England during the Aug. 4-6 weekend for the USATF 50K Trail National Championship as part of the Ragged 75 Stage Race event in New Hampshire, highlighting a big weekend for ultrarunners in the region. Both the men’s and women’s championships came home to Massachusetts thanks to Boston’s Philip Royer and Hannah Rowe who hammered the tough, rugged course. But Ragged wasn’t the lone race in the region during the weekend. Several other runners ventured to Maine for the inaugural Blue Hill Mountain Trail Fest. Additionally, many runners headed south to Virginia our West To Oregon, Washington and Hawaii for other races. We have them all covered in this edition of the roundup.

Ragged 75 Stage Race and 50K

The USATF 50K Trail National Championship came to New England as the grand finale of the Ragged 75 Stage Race on Aug. 4-6 in Danbury, N.H. The “heavy” 50K on day three served as the championship event and attracted many runners from throughout the country to take on the 33-mile point-to-point course and its 6,300 feet of climbing as they made their way from Sunapee Middle School to Ragged Mountain Resort.

Philip Royer made his ultra debut at the Ragged 50K in 2021 and finished fourth. This year marked his return to racing ultras, and the 32-year-old from Boston, Mass., had an even bigger day at the Ragged 50, finishing first and securing the national title with a course-record time of 4:33:54. Mead Binhammer, 28, of Attleboro, Mass., was the runner-up in 4:55:38, followed by 31-year-old Zach Crim of Haslett, Mich., in 5:06:06. Other New England residents among the top 10 men were Peter Bonito, 38, of Westmoreland, N.H. (fifth, 5:10:35); Jack Spaulding, 24, of Clinton, Mass. (sixth, 5:11:31); Andrew MacGibbon, 27, of Lebanon, N.H. (eighth, 5:18:18); and Iain Ridgway, 43, of Holden, Mass. (ninth, 5:19:42).

In the women’s championship race, 31-year-old Hannah Rowe of Boston, Mass., fended off a fierce challenge from 32-year-old Leah Yingling of Salt Lake City, Utah, to win. Rowe, who like Royer made her ultra debut at the 2021 race, improved by more than an hour and won the national title in 5:33:43. Yingling was a close second in 5:35:00, followed by 27-year-old Colleen Chase of Princeton, Mass., in 5:43:31.

Other New England women in the top 10 were Lila Gaudrault, 20, of Cape Elizabeth, Maine (fourth, 6:01:23); Hilary McCloy, 40, of Jackson, N.H. (fifth, 6:11:19); Sarah Connor, 34, of New Haven, Conn. (sixth, 6:51:32); Adah Chapman, 16, of Center Harbor, N.H. (seventh, 6:59:10); Kehr Davis, 46, of Pittsfield, Mass. (eighth, 7:16:38); Kelly Wei, 33, of Woodbury, Conn. (ninth, 7:17:42); and Kara Piergentili, 28, of Vernon, Vt. (10th, 7:20:04).

Additionally, 47 runners completed the full three-day Ragged Stage Race, covering around 75 miles and more than 15,000 feet of climbing on the Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway. The point-to-point event included 22 miles and trips atop Mt. Ragged and Mt. Kearsarge on day one, and another 25 miles and a trip to the top of Mt. Sunapee on day two before closing out with the 33-mile “heavy” 50K on day three. Kehr Davis, 46, of Pittsfield, Mass., finished third overall and was the women’s stage race champion in 16:54:55 – a new course-record for the event, topping Leslie O’Dell’s previous record of 17:00:27 from 2022. Sarah Connor, 34, of New Haven, Conn., was fifth overall and the women’s runner-up in 17:19:27 – the third-best women’s performance ever. Christina Danosi, 32, of Manchester Center, Vt., rounded out the women’s podium in 18:23:26, followed by Suzanna Taytslin, 28, of Weare, N.H., in 19:46:13 and Kelly Ammon, 33, of Reading, Pa., in 19:56:45.

Erik Brooks, 34, of Lincolnville, Maine, won the men’s stage race in 13:48:34 – the third-best performance in the event’s six-year history. Sam Wallis, 31, of Medford, Mass., was the runner-up in 14:37:19 – the fifth-best performance ever. Brett Mantell, 49, of Exeter, N.H., was fourth overall and third in the men’s field in 16:56:59. Hank Xi, 41, of Malden, Mass., was fourth in the men’s field in 17:44:15, followed by Arnold Twitchell, 59, of South Paris, Maine, in 17:47:23.

Blue Hill Mountain Trail Fest

The inaugural Blue Hill Mountain Trail Fest welcomed runners to tackle an assortment of endurance options, from 5K and 10K trail races up to a 50K ultramarathon on Saturday, Aug. 5, in Blue Hill, Maine.

Twenty-three runners took on the ultra, which consisted of seven figure-eight loops on trails and service roads. Of that group, 17 ultimately finished with Isaac Vaccaro and Christiana Davis topping the men’s and women’s fields. Vaccaro, 24, of Blue Hill, Maine, led all runners in 5:37:17, followed by 35-year-old Dylan Brann of Bar Harbor, Maine, in 5:53:31. Davis, 23, of Bar Harbor, Maine, placed fifth overall and first in the women’s field in 6:33:44, less than two minutes ahead of women’s runner-up Alanna McDonough, 30, of Winslow, Maine, who finished in 6:35:04. Both Davis and McDonough made their ultra debuts at Blue Hill.

Waldo 100K

Brian Burke has developed into a force on the trails of the Northeast since making his debut in late 2017. The 41-year-old resident of Medford, Mass., proved he could also hold his own just fine in the Pacific Northwest when he took part in the 21st running of the Waldo 100K on Saturday, Aug. 5, in Oakridge, Ore.

Racing on the loop course that started and finished at Willamette Pass Ski Area and climbed four mountains and amassed 11,000 feet of climbing in between, Burke battled to a top-10 finish. Marci Klimek, 35, of Talent, Ore., led all runners in 10:21:04 and broked the women’s course record by more than two minutes. Rob Russell, 45, of Redmond, Ore., was second overall and first in the men’s field in 10:49:04. The top three runners finished sub-11 and the top nine went sub-12. That included Burke who was ninth overall and seventh in the men’s field in 11:43:39. There were 102 finishers within 21 hours.

Volcanic 50

After finishing on the women’s podium at her inaugural ultra at the Bridge Burner 50K in Colorado in 2022, Marie Cupo traveled to another challenging race for her second ultra. Cupo, 30, of Killington, Vt., toed the line at the 11th running of the Volcanic 50K on Saturday, Aug. 5, in Cougar, Wash. She raced hard on the singletrack course on the Loowit Trail around Mt. St. Helens, amassing 7,400 feet of gain along the way. Cupo was among the top performers overall, placing seventh in the women’s field and 29th overall out of 222 finishers in 7:28:53. 

Matthew Bigman, 30, and Katie Beebe, 25, both of Portland, Ore., won the men’s and women’s races in 5:16:50 and 6:02:01, respectively, with the second-best performances in course history.

Dahlgren Heritage Rail Trail

After completing the Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail 100-miler in October 2022, Yosef Ellis-Rech took some time off from racing. The 23-year-old resident of Sharon, Mass., shook off the rust with his first ultra of the year at the 15th annual Dahlgren Heritage Rail Trail 50K on Saturday, Aug. 5, in King George, Va.

Racing on an out-and-back course on the fast, smooth rail trail, Ellis-Rech cruised to a 16th place overall finish in a speedy 4:58:45. Ninety-eight runners finished the race within 8 1/2 hours, led by 27-year-old Nick Cruz of Greenwood, Del., in 3:40:43. Kristin Herring, 44, of Newport News, Va., was fifth overall and first female in 4:12:45.

Kauai 50

After nearly a three-year break from running ultras, Jeff Beaudoin picked a scenic adventure for his return to ultra distance racing: the inaugural Kauai 50-miler on Saturday, Aug. 5, in Kalaheo, Hawaii.

The course consisted of four 12.7-mile loops around Kauai Coffee Farm on hard-packed dirt trails along the coastline with around 4,800 feet of gain by the time the race was complete. Beaudoin made his ultra return successful as the 41-year-old from York, Maine, finished in 9:14:48, good for 16th place overall out of 74 finishers within 13 hours. Twenty-three runners finished in less than 10 hours. Ryan Miller, 31, of San Antonio, Texas, won the race in 6:02:18. Anna Kacius, 30, of San Francisco, Calif., won the women’s race and finished sixth overall in 7:07:41.

*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.