From mid-September through early November is typically the busiest stretch of the ultrarunning season, and that trend did not let up during the Sept. 8-10 weekend as New Englanders tackled races locally and all across the country. Nearly 500 runners took part in the annual TARC Fall Classic in Carlisle, Mass. (separate recap to follow), but many runners branched out across the region – from Maine and Connecticut – to race. Several others scattered throughout the country to tackle 100-mile races, from New York to Utah, to Arizona, Oregon and Pennsylvania. And that’s just the ultras that have posted their results so far! Collectively, that makes for plenty of reading in this edition of the roundup.

Labor Day weekend was light on ultramarathons throughout the United States, though it was a surprisingly busy Sept. 1-3 weekend for racing here in New England. In Massachusetts, the seventh edition of The Village Ultra took place in New Salem (separate recap in the works), but dozens of ultrarunners also took on regional races in Vermont and Maine. The Jay Peak Ultra tested runners on tough Vermont trails with more than 9,000 feet of climbing, while the inaugural Cherry Hill Farm Ultra in Maine ditched the vert for flat, fast, non-technical terrain that allowed more runners to push the pace. Both of those events are included in this edition of the roundup.

After a jam-packed month of summer racing, the Aug. 25-27 weekend was relatively quiet for ultrarunners in New England – but not completely quiet. A few runners headed west to Oregon and tackled the tough Scenic Beach ultras, while several stayed close to home and gathered in Maine for the annual Firebird Trail Races. It was there that the biggest performance of the weekend was turned in by Lila Gaudrault as the rising star cranked out a course record effort while winning the 50-mile race outright. It’s that big performance that leads off this edition of the roundup.