Earlier this week we looked at the Northeast ultras from a jam-packed March 8-10 weekend of ultramarathon racing. Here in our second roundup of the week, we catch up on New Englanders who raced in the South and the West. We start in sunny San Diego, Calif., where 18-year-old Maine resident Jaxon Redmond kicked off his ultra career with a victory at Pirate’s Cove. Then we check out the Marin Ultra Challenge, where Vermont’s John Lavoie took on big vert in preparation for a tough upcoming 100-miler, while two Cambridge, Mass., residents returned to the scene of their first ultra. Beyond California, we catch up on results from Arizona, Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina in this edition of the roundup.

San Diego Pirate’s Cove

Jaxson Redmond headed West for his ultramarathon debut, and the 18-year-old capped his first ultra with a victory. Redmond, of Kennebunkport, Maine, won the 6-hour race at the eighth annual San Diego Pirate’s Cove Ultras on March 8-9 at Lake Cuyamaca, Calif. The event used a 2-mile loop course with 150 feet of gain per loop. It also offered 24-hour and 12-hour races, though no New England residents took part in those events.

Seventeen runners took part in the 6-hour race, and two finished 32 miles apiece, including Redmond. His mileage was matched by women’s champion Taylor King, 32, of Carlsbad, Calif. Redmond was joined on the men’s podium by Nino Asuncion, 41, of La Puente, Calif., and Walter Bueno, 36, of El Cajon, Calif., who completed 30 miles apiece.

Marin Ultra Challenge

Three New England residents traveled West to take on big climbs and soak up scenic views at the 11th edition of the Marin Ultra Challenge 50-mile and 50K ultras on Saturday, March 9, in Sausalito, Calif. The big courses took runners of both distances from Rodeo Beach, through the Marin Headlands, Mt. Tamalpais and the Muir Woods, and back to the beach.

John Lavoie was the lone New England resident in the 50-mile race and its 10,500 feet of climbing. The 71-year-old from Saint Albans, Vt., used the race as a tune-up for the Cruel Jewel 100-miler in Georgia in May. He was among the 133 finishers, completing the race in 14:18:30.

50M Kevin Stewart, 34, of Gilroy, Calif., and Natalie Chirgwin, 35, of Ashland, Ore., were the men’s and women’s winners in 7:05:31 and 8:45:01, respectively.

Another 244 runners completed the 50K race and its 5,300 feet of climbing. Two Bay Staters were among the finishers as 28-year-old Kevin Yang and 28-year-old Serena Blacklow, both of Cambridge, Mass., completed the race. Both runners made the event their ultramarathon debuts in 2022 by running the 50-miler. This time, Yang completed the 50K in 5:15:57, good for 39th out of 244 finishers. Blacklow was 58th overall in 5:39:07. Patrick Rabuzzi, 32, of Oakland, Calif., and Lindsay Allison, 28, of Telluride, Colo., topped the men’s and women’s fields in 3:51:45 and 4:16:11.

Mesquite Canyon Ultras

Marylyn Styles has a pair of tough New England 100-milers on her calendar in the coming months, so she headed West for a tune-up race at the 15th annual Mesquite Canyon Ultras on Saturday, March 9, in Waddell, Ariz. Styles, 57, of Laconia, N.H., took part in the event’s 50-mile race on rocky, desert singletrack trails and ultimately finished in 14:16:27. Up next for Styles are the Riverlands 100-miler in Maine in May, followed by the Jigger Johnson 100-miler in New Hampshire in June.

Nick Coury, 36, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Zuzana Trnovcova, 37, of San Francisco, Calif., were the men’s and women’s winners of the 50-miler in 7:47:27 and 8:46:18, respectively. Forty-two runners started the race and 30 finished within 15 hours.

Another 71 runners completed the 50K race, led by Jordan Bramblett, 26, of Paulden, Ariz., and Alisa Macdonald, 43, of Cochrane, Alberta, in 4:18:28 and 4:27:53, respectively. No New England residents were in the field at that distance.

Stump Jump 50K

Alexandra Schwenzfeier traveled to Tennessee to make her ultrarunning debut in December at the Bell Ringer 50K. Three months later, she was back in Tennessee – this time in Chattanooga – on Saturday, March 9, for her second ultra when she ran the 23rd annual Stump Jump 50K.

Schwenzfeier, 29, of Deep River, Conn., and her fellow runners took on lots of forested singletrack trails on Signal Mountain and the Walden Ridge, earning views of the Tennessee River Gorge along the way.

Brandon Sullivan, 41, and Rachel Vedder, 32, both of Signal Mountain, Tenn., were the men’s and women’s winners in 5:33:19 and 6:32:38, respectively. Schwenzfeier finished in 8:43:48. There were 119 finishers within 10 hours.

Conquer the Wall

If there’s a multi-day ultramarathon happening in the United States, there’s a good chance Ed Peters will be there. Peters, 72, of Norwalk, Conn., has completed multiple 100+-mile efforts each year for the past few years, including at least 10 in 2023 alone, topped by a 254-mile effort in the 144-hour race at 3 Days at the Fair in New Jersey.

Peters earned his first 100-mile finish of 2024 at the Jackpot Ultra Festival 48-hour race in Henderson, Nev., in February. He earned his second at the seventh annual Conquer the Wall Ultras on May 8-10 in Williamson, W.V. The event allowed runners 47 hours to complete as many loops as they wanted on a 2.05-mile flat, paved loop along the West Williamson floodwall at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College. Seventy-four runners took part in the race.

Matthew Young, 49, of Hurricane, W.V., topped the field with 81 laps for 166.05 miles, securing the victory by nearly 29 miles. Megan Fraser, 34, of Howell, Mich., was fourth overall and first in the women’s field with 65 laps for 135.3 miles. Peters completed 49 laps for 100.45 miles, finishing 23rd overall.

Peters has two more 48-hour ultras on his calendar later this spring – the Dogwood Ultra Marathons in Virginia in March and Earth Day Bucklemania in Kansas in April.

An additional 20 runners competed in the 35-hour race; none were New England residents.

Mountains to Sea

A little more than 100 runners gathered for the 100-mile, 50-mile and 50K races at the fourth annual Mountains to Sea (MST) 100 Endurance Races on March 9-10 in Durham, N.C. All of the distances took runners on out-and-back courses on the Mountains to Sea Trail.

Michael McLaughlin, 62, of Needham, Mass., was the lone New England resident in the field and was one of 30 runners to take on the 50-mile race. Twenty-eight runners ultimately finished, and McLaughlin was 19th in 12:56:05. Jason Pierce, 38, of Stratford, Wisc., won the race in 8:13:03.

Thirty-five runners started the 100-mile race and 23 finished, led by Vladimir Martinez-Jimenez, 39, of Woodbridge, Va., in 20:19:25. None of the 100-mile competitors were New England residents. Another 42 runners started the 50K race and 36 finished, led by Virginia McConnell, 38, of Ketchum, Idaho, in 5:21:57. None of the 50K competitors were New England residents.

*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.