There was plenty of ultramarathon action throughout New England during the May 10-12 weekend, from the Watuppa Trail Races and Wapack and Back here in Massachusetts, to the Riverlands 100 in Maine and Blood Root Ultra in Vermont. Even with all of those opportunities close to home, several runners from the region scattered throughout the country to take on a variety of ultra challenges. You can read about Watuppa and Wapack in their own separate articles, and we’ll catch up on Riverlands and Blood Root in a separate roundup, but in this edition we catch up on those non-New England events in Arizona, Oregon, Alabama, Washington, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Cocodona 250

Of all the big-time performances turned in during the fourth edition of the Cocodona 250 on May 6-10 in Arizona, the biggest under-the-radar showing may have been turned in by a family of competitors. Jennie Chisholm, Brody Chisholm and Ben Chisholm of Salem, N.H., all successfully conquered the point-to-point course from Black Canyon City to Flagstaff, amassing around 40,000 feet of climbing during the multi-day journey. Of the 201 runners who finished the race within 125 hours, the Chisholms accounted for three of those finishes.

Cocodona also offers two shorter ultra distances – the Sedona Canyons 125-miler and the Elden Crest 38-miler. The Chisholms all completed Elden Crest last year and decided to come back for a whole lot more, signing up for the 250-miler.

Brody, 17, had a head-turning performance as he finished 12th overall in 75 hours, 49 minutes, 52 seconds. Ben, 18, was 34th overall in 87:01:50. Jennie, 48, placed 87th overall and 16th in the women’s field in 103:58:03.

The Chisholms accounted for half of the New England residents who finished the race. Aliza Lapierre, 43, of Richmond, Vt., placed 30th overall and sixth in the women’s field in 86:05:51. She was the women’s runner-up and seventh overall finisher in 2023. Brian Baynes, 48, of Winchester, Mass., was 45th in 91:12:46, and Davey Edwards, 52, of South Glastonbury, Conn., was 191st in 121:17:44.

Former Massachusetts resident Joe McConaughy, 32, of Seattle, Wash., finished fourth overall in 64:03:02, logging the fifth-fastest time in course history. McConaughy won the 2022 race in 59:28:54, which remains the course record.

Haroldas Subertas, 32, of Haines, Alaska, won in 59:50:55. Jeff Browning, 53, of Flagstaff, Ariz., was second in 60:19:57, and 31-year-old Arlen Glick of Massillon, Ohio, was third in 61:46:57. The event’s inaugural champion, 38-year-old Michael Versteeg of Prescott, Ariz., was fifth in 65:45:20. Rachel Entrekin, 32, of Los Angeles, Calif., was the women’s champion and 11th overall finisher in 73:31:25. Her time was the third-fastest by a female in event history.

In the event’s middle-distance race, the Sedona Canyons 125-miler, runners took on a course with more than 13,000 feet of climbing. Two New Englanders were among the starters of that race, but neither finished.

The week closed out with the shortest event, the Elden Crest 38-miler. Two New Englanders – Cassandra Mansfield, 36, of Weymouth, Mass., and Rophe Mason, 37, of Hanover, Mass. – were among the 158 finishers within 18 hours. Mansfield was 66th in 9:27:23 and Mason was 89th in 10:11:28. Ryan Wolff, 27, of Flagstaff, Ariz., led the men’s field in 4:39:25 while Jessica Jones, 38, of Pearce, Ariz., was the top female in 6:50:49.

Hellbender 100

Andrew Wojciak and Ryan Williams know a thing or two about tough 100-milers. Wojciak, 26, of Goffstown, N.H., placed third at last year’s Jigger Johnson 100 in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Williams, 35, of Concord, Mass., finished the Grindstone 100 in Virginia in 2021 and the Eastern States 100 in Pennsylvania a year later.

Both men took on the fifth edition of the Hellbender 100 on May 10-12 in Old Fort, N.C., on a tough course with more than 23,000 feet of climbing in the Black Mountains that includes a trip to the summit of Mt. Mitchell. Of the 120 runners who started the race, 95 finished within 40 hours. Wojciak placed ninth overall in 26:31:32, and Williams was 16th in 28:34:14.

Sondre Stier Thorbergsen, 33, of Sogndal, Norway, earned the victory in 20:00:44, followed closely by Kyle Curtin, 37, of Durango, Colo., in 20:05:32. The duo turned in the two fastest times in course history. Meg Landymore, 37, of Pasadena, Md., was the women’s champion and 10th overall finisher in 26:54:32.

Tillamook Burn

Hans Von Briesen had a jam-packed weekend of running at Tillamook Burn during the May 10-12 weekend at the Tillamook State Forest in Oregon. He took part in the event’s 100-mile stage race, which meant he ran all three days in the 50-mile and 50K ultras as well as a 20-mile race.

Ten runners finished the full stage, led by 40-year-old Jace Ives of Ashland, Ore., in 16:16:47. Von Briesen, 38, of Warren, Vt., was the lone New Englander in the stage race, and he finished third overall and second in the men’s field in 19:59:53. Rachel Hawkins, 31, of Glide, Ore., was the first-place female and second overall finisher in 18:25:18.

Von Briesen amassed his strong finish in the stage race by performing well each day. He placed 21st overall in the 50-miler out of 110 finishers with a time of 10:18:19. Tyler Green, 40, and Rachel Drake, 32, both of Portland, Ore., were the men’s and women’s winners in 6:51:24 and 8:13:56 on a point-to-point course with 9,000 feet of climbing.

In the 50K, Von Briesen finished 27th out of 112 runners in 6:07:24. Justin Grunewald, 38, of Boulder, Colo., and Barrett Gray, 25, of Issaquah, Wash., were the top male and female runners in 4:12:07 and 5:00:17 on the out-and-back course with 7,000 feet of climbing. Joining Von Briesen in the field was fellow New Englander Kendall Gray, 26, of Newmarket, N.H., who placed 17th overall and fourth in the women’s field – less than 2 minutes off the podium – in 5:44:47.

Dirty German Endurance Fest

The Dirty German Endurance Fest returned for its 14th edition on Saturday, May 11, at Pennypack Park in Philadelphia, Pa., and several New Englanders were among the competitors in the 50K and 50-mile races on the figure eight-style 25K loop course. Highlighting the event for the New England contingent were a pair of podium finishers in the 50K.

Emilie Tanski, 31, of Lexington, Mass., and Lena Chretien, 37, of Kingston, N.H., were second and third in the women’s field in 4:36:46 and 5:15:06, respectively. Joining them on the podium was 31-year-old Emily Dooley of Philadelphia, Pa., who was third overall and the women’s champion in 4:23:10. Kevin Scott, 40, of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., led all runners in 4:11:46. Additional New Englanders were among the 180 finishers of the 50K within the 10-hour limit were Matheus Pereira, 29, of East Windsor, Conn. (7:20:10); Barbara Graf, 65, of Leeds, Mass. (7:29:38); and Derek Ryone, 50, of Brewster, Mass. (8:33:15).

An additional five New England residents were among the 133 finishers of the event’s 50-mile race within the 13-hour limit. Todd Reutlinger, 32, of Rumford, Maine, was the top performer from the region, placing 62nd in 9:51:55. Other finishers were Tyler Beaulieu, 26, of Portland, Conn. (10:18:52); Chris Risko, 55, of Falmouth, Mass. (11:05:01); Jen Huber, 47, of Middletown, R.I. (11:35:17); and Frank Judge, 54, of Hingham, Mass. (12:15:51). Sean Rahill, 24, of Warminster, Pa., and Adrianne Belcher, 45, of Glen Mills, Pa., were the men’s and women’s champions in 6:36:31 and 7:56:31, respectively.

Muddy Crudd’s Ultra Trail Party

Justin Deflumeri began his ultrarunning career in late 2023, first with a 27.53-mile effort in the 6-hour race at the Joe English Twilight Challenge in September, followed by a 60-mile run at the Ghost Train Rail Trail Race 30-hour in October.

Deflumeri, 35, of Nashua, N.H., left New Hampshire for his third ultra when he traveled to Valley, Ala., to take part in the 12-hour race at Muddy Crudd’s Ultra Trail Party. Deflumeri was the lone New England resident at the event, which also offered a 6-hour ultra option. He was one of 13 runners in the 12-hour race that took place on a 2-mile loop course, and he finished right in the middle of the field as one of seven runners to complete 40 miles. Joseph Dease, 47, of Vestavia Hills, Ala., led all runners with 58 miles, followed by women’s champion and second overall finisher Melissa Witt, 53, of Dauphin Island, Ala., with 56 miles.

Tiger Claw 50K

Tim Scribner picked a uniquely challenging race to make his ultramarathon debut. Scribner took on the Tiger Claw 50K, a rugged event in the Pacific Northwest consisting of three separate climbs up Tiger Mountain where runners choose the order they wish to pursue the climbs, carrying a timing device to confirm they complete all of them and amass the full 8,500 feet of climbing that comes with it.

Scribner was one of 110 runners who started the race on Saturday, May 11, in Issaquah, Wash., and he also was among the 98 who successfully finished within 10 1/2 hours. Scribner, 51, of Keene, N.H., finished right in the middle of the field in 50th place overall in 7:54:43. He was the lone New England resident in the field.

Andrew Bachman, 31, of North Bend, Wash., won the race in 4:54:02 and was the lone sub-5-hour finisher.

*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.