The 2024 ultrarunning season is just a few weeks old, but runners from New England are already making their presence felt on trails throughout the country. A few turned in big mileage in Georgia at the 34-hour Dark Anchor Ultra during the Jan. 20-21 weekend, while another earned his first ultra finish at Fort Clinch in Florida. And then there was Jason Baker, who hammered his way to a podium finish in the 100-mile race at Coldwater Rumble in Arizona. We have them all covered in this edition of the roundup.

Coldwater Rumble

In June, Jason Baker made his 100-mile debut with a gritty, grind-it-out effort at the Bighorn Wild and Scenic 100-Mile Trail Run in Wyoming, placing eighth overall and finishing in less than 23 hours. On Jan. 20-21, Baker tackled his second 100-miler, this time in less mountainous terrain, when he raced the 14th annual Coldwater Rumble Ultra in Goodyear, Ariz.

The race took place on desert trails through the Sierra Estrella Mountains foothills at Estrella Mountain Regional Park on a slightly modified course from previous years. Seventy-five runners toed the starting line, and 51 ultimately finished within the 32-hour time limit. Baker, 25, of Carver, Mass., placed third overall and second in the men’s field in a speedy 17:11:04. Defending champion Jeff Browning, 52, of Flagstaff, Ariz., led all runners in 15:45:38 and women’s champion Devon Yanko, 41, of Howard, Colo., was second overall in 16:19:17. The second-place female and third-place male runners followed about two hours after Baker, with 27-year-old Elsa Jaworski of Salt Lake City, Utah, finishing in 19:15:58 and 52-year-old Stephen Monaco of Alamosa, Colo., following moments later in 19:17:34.

Baker’s busy year is just getting started. He will return to the Never Summer 100K in Colorado in July (he was 25th overall at the 2023 race), and then travel to Idaho in September for the IMTUF 100-miler.

Coldwater Rumble also offered 100K and 60K ultra distances. No New England residents competed in the 60K, but one – Todd Falkner – raced the 100K. Falkner, 42, of Malden, Mass. placed 17th out of 39 finishers in 15:49:16. Jake Jackson, 46, of Loma Linda, Calif., won the race in 10:09:15.

Florida Roots Trail Series: Fort Clinch

Matt Thompson earned his first ultramarathon finish in a scenic spot when he completed the Florida Roots Trail Series’ Fort Clinch 50K on Saturday, Jan. 20, at Fort Clinch in Fernandina Beach, Fla.

Runners had to complete five passes through a 10K loop course that snaked through the Fort Clinch State Park property on mixed-use singletrack trails. Thompson, 43, of Portsmouth, N.H., had a strong showing and finished 12th overall out of 31 finishers in 6:15:45.

Defending women’s champion and course record-holder Carson Zylinski defended her title, lowered her own course record and won the race outright in 4:43:38. Women’s runner-up and third overall finisher Maggie Weber, 42, of Hardeeville, S.C., also eclipsed the previous record and finished in 4:55:12. Men’s champion Rocky Henderson, 43, of Winter Garden, Fla., was the overall runner-up in 4:54:03.

Dark Anchor

Yeti Runners played host to the second annual Dark Anchor Ultra on Jan. 19-20 in Savannah, Ga., offering runners the opportunity to take on as many loops of a 3.5-mile flat course as they wanted within a 34-hour time limit. A large crowd of 229 toed the starting line and finished at least one loop apiece. Sixty-six runners ultimately finished 100 or more miles, led by men’s and women’s champions Angelo Hernandez, 37, of Roswell, Ga., and Jess Mullen, 48, of Seattle, Wash., who went 1-2 overall with 126.0 and 122.5 miles, respectively.

Two New England residents also were among the runners who earned ultramarathon finishes. Molly Chace, 39, of Hudson, N.H., followed up her 100.7-mile effort at the Notchview Ultra 72-hour race in July 2023 by completing 63.0 miles at Dark Anchor. Additionally, 41-year-old Payton Corbett of Somerville, Mass., earned his first ultra finish with 42.0 miles.

*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.