The Sept. 22-24 weekend was surprisingly quiet in Massachusetts, but it was busy in the rest of New England as the legendary Vermont 50 turned 30, the Angevine Farm 50K and Enchanted Forest 6-hour took place in Connecticut, and Uphill Will made its debut in Maine. All of those regional races are featured in this edition of the roundup.

Vermont 50

A New England classic turned 30 this year.

The Vermont 50 has been a longtime staple of the New England ultrarunning scene – a must-do for runners in the region with its scenic 50-mile and 50K distance offerings. The 30th edition of the Vermont 50 took place on Sunday, Sept. 24, in Brownsville, Vt., and New Englanders held strong at the front of the field.

Noteworthy performances led both the men’s and women’s 50-mile fields as 30-year-old Benjamin Lane earned his first ultra victory and 20-year-old Lila Gaudrault made her long-awaited Vermont 50 debut. Lane put up 105 miles at RutFest in 2022, finishing third, but the Vermont 50 was the Groveland, Mass., resident’s first 50-mile race. He win it in 7:31:03, pulling away from 33-year-old Kevin Hartstein of Hanover, N.H., and 38-year-old Scott Gleason of Walton, N.Y., who placed second and third, respectively, in 7:45:46 and 7:52:20. Meanwhile, Gaudrault topped the women’s field and placed fourth overall in her Vermont 50 debut. The resident of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, has turned heads with fast performances and course record-setting efforts in Maine and Massachusetts during the past two years. She added another impressive victory to her resume while logging the 13th-best women’s time in course history, finishing in 7:54:23. Louiza Wise, 25, of Brookline, Mass., was a distant second (seventh overall) in 8:30:12, followed by 26-year-old Hannah Grall of Lake Placid, N.Y., who rounded out the female podium (eighth overalL) in 8:40:02.

Joining Lane, Hartstein and Gleason in the men’s top five were Christopher Welker, 27, of Thetford Center, Vt. (7:58:01) and Corin Kwasnik, 28, of Boston, Mass. (8:27:20). Kae Ravichandran, 26, of Burlington, Vt. (8:57:59), and Madaileine Kingsbury, 41, of Waterbury, Vt. (9:06:14) were fourth and fifth female.

In the nonbinary category, Erzsebet Nagy, 28, of Winooski, Vt. led the field in (10:16:15), followed by Michelle Kennedy, 32, of Northampton, Mass. (11:40:57).

There were 135 finishers of the 50-mile race within 12 1/2 hours.

In the 50K race, 28-year-old Ansel Dickey made his ultramarathon debut a memorable one. After bursting on the trail scene with a victory at the Trapp Lodge Mountain Half Marathon in 2022, the resident of Woodstock, Vt., was victorious in his first ultra as he outkicked Ryan Burke to the finish line. Dickey earned the victory in 4:34:01, and Burke, 35, of Nepean, Ontario, followed closely in 4:35:13. Rounding out the podium was 44-year-old Brian Rusiecki of South Deerfield, Mass. A four-time winner of the event’s 50-mile race, Rusiecki improved on his fifth-place finish in the 2022 50K by placing third this year in 4:51:19. New Englanders filled out the entire men’s top 10, with Justin Neuman, 46, of New Haven, Conn., finishing fourth (5:21:44) and James Robitaille, 26, of Cheshire, Conn., finishing fifth (5:31:00). They were followed by Colin Smith, 47, of Lebanon, N.H. (5:33:27); Ryan Shamy, 30, of Burlington, Vt. (5:42:01); Dan Curley, 25, of Norwood, Mass. (5:44:18); and Joshua Brown, 55, of Proctorsville, Vt. (5:55:13). Thomas Gause, 23, of Kingfield, Maine, was the final sub-6-hour finisher, placing 11th in 5:57:47.

In the women’s field, Crystal Ross earned her first victory at Vermont in seven tries between the 50K and 50-mile distances. Ninth-place in last year’s 50K, Ross had a strong day this year and the 42-year-old resident of Carver, Mass., cruised to victory in 6:00:50. Carly Eisley, 43, of North Stonington, Vt., was the runner-up in 6:18:40, followed by 30-year-old Kelsey O’Brien of Reading, Vt., in 6:23:57.

The remainder of the women’s top 10 finished in close succession with fourth and 10th separated by just 16 minutes. Chelsea Frehulfer, 38, of Williston, Vt., was fourth in 6:29:45, followed by Audrey Nelson, 52, of Portland, Ore., in 6:32:31. She was followed closely by Katie Robinson, 50, of Williston, Vt. (6:35:43); Silja Earl-Toriainen, 19, of Saint Paul, Minn., (6:37:45); Sophom Choup, 44, of Narberth, Pa., (6:41:02); Julia Fuller, 27, of Cambridge, Mass. (6:41:56); and Ericka Emerson, 52, of Belchertown, Mass. (6:45:44).

There were 124 finishers of the 50K within 11 hours.

Click here for full results from the Vermont 50.

Angevine Farm Trail Festival

Ten runners tackled the 50K distance at the fifth annual Angevine Farm Trail Festival on Sunday, Sept. 24, in Warren, Conn. Runners raced on farm trails, as well as singletrack and doubletrack trails in Wyantenock State Forest and a little bit of pavement while completing two loops and another out-and-back. Peter Notarnicola, 28, of Amityville, N.Y., cruised to the win in 5:24:49. Six New England residents joined him among the finishers, starting with runner-up Tom Rosenau, 30, of Westport, Conn., in 6:05:07. Karl Hellstrand, 44, of Southington, Conn., rounded out the podium in 6:41:15, seven minutes ahead of 28-year-old Michael Scheer of Ridgefield, Conn., who placed fourth in 6:48:35. Other finishers included Leo Clinard-Emonet, 14, of New Haven, Conn., in 7:41:30; Paul Sulzicki, 44, of Southington, Conn, in 8:11:06; and Eli Abbott, 25, of Newburyport, Mass., in 9:26:19.

Enchanted Forest 6-Hour

Runners gathered at the Roosevelt Forest for the seventh annual Enchanted Forest 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, Sept. 23, in Stratford, Conn. They once again took on a 2.3-mile loop with 191 feet of climbing per loop while running on singletrack and doubletrack trails.

Thirty-two runners took part in the event, and nine achieved ultramarathon mileage.

The top three men all finished with 34.5 miles, but Paulis Ragauskas, 42, of Norwalk, Conn., finished the fastest and earned the win, followed by Paul Sousa, 40, of North Providence, R.I., and Patrick Anderson, 45, of New York, N.Y. Concetta Puelo, 40, of Stratford, Conn., was fourth with 29.8 miles. Brittany Ames, 31, of Mendon, Mass., was the first-place female with 27.6 miles. Lauren Griffin, 55, of Marlborough, Conn., matched Ames for distance but finished second.

Uphill Will

The inaugural Uphill Will vertical challenge made its debut on Sept. 22-23 at the Sunday River Resort in Newry, Maine.

The new event from Run The Whites presented a grueling challenge by having runners run uphill only, amassing 1,200 feet of climbing over the course of two miles as they ascended from the South Ridge Express ski lift to the North Peak Lodge while running and hiking on singletrack dirt, gravel roads and rock slabs before hopping on the lift for ride back down, only to run right back up the mountain.

No runners in the 12- and 6-hour races achieved ultramarathon mileage. Twenty-nine runners took on the 24-hour event, and six achieved ultramarathon mileage. Bryce Spare, 40, of Adams, Mass., led the way with 35 miles, followed by 21-year-old Maxx Parys of Durham, N.H., with 31 miles. Maxx Parys, 25, of Acton, Mass., was third with 30 miles. Samuel Conley, 25, of Conway, N.H., completed 29 miles, followed by 46-year-old Eric Bednorz of Swanville, Maine, and 42-year-old Jason Dow of Franconia, N.H., with 28 miles apiece.

Tracyn Thayer, 54, of Albany Township, Maine, led the women with 26 miles and finished seventh overall.

*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.