Racing was hot in the West during the Feb. 23-25 weekend as several New England residents headed cross-country to explore new terrain and tackle new ultramarathons. In part one of this week’s roundup we focused on New Englanders’ ultra adventures in the South. Here in part two we catch up on all things West Coast, starting with Scituate, Mass., resident Matt Dibb’s successful run at the Orcas Island 100-miler in Washington. Then we head down to California where five New Englanders finished the inaugural Big Alta 50K, before closing it out in Utah where Maine’s Effie Drew opened her season on the slickrock trails of Moab.

The Feb. 24-25 weekend was relatively quiet on the trails of New England, but several runners from the region scattered throughout the country to race in the South and the West. In a separate roundup we’ll catch up on New Englanders’ performances out West at the Orcas Island 100, the Big Alta 50K, and the Moab Red Hot Ultras, but in this edition we look at the races in the South. New Englanders raced in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, and three local runners secured spots on the podium while another returned to the place where his ultrarunning career began 18 years ago. We have it all in this edition of the roundup.

It’s been a few months since Brian Burke headed south to race, but that one worked out quite well for the Medford, Mass., resident when he won the No Business 100-miler in October. Burke made a last-minute decision to head south again, this time to West Virginia. The result was another big-time effort as he earned a spot on the podium at the Cabin Fever 50K. Burke wasn’t the only New England resident to race during the Feb. 16-18 weekend – though it was a quiet weekend overall for ultrarunners from the region – but his performance leads off this edition of the roundup.

Around 150 hearty New England trail- and ultrarunners gathered at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass., for the fifth edition of the Trail Animals Running Club’s TARCtic Frozen Yeti 30-Hour Ultra and 15-mile night race during the Feb. 3-4 weekend, but a handful of others branched beyond New England to race during the first weekend of February. From a soggy, splashy Rocky Raccoon in Texas, to the warmer confines of the Elephant Mountain Trail Race in Arizona and the Mt. Umunhum Trail Conquest in California, New Englanders made their presence felt at starting lines around the country. We have their results captured in this edition of the roundup.