Memorial Day weekend was relatively quiet on the ultrarunning scene nationwide with just a handful of events, including the final days of Infinitus in Vermont and the Trail Festival at Pineland Farms in Maine. Given the limited number of ultras available, Framingham resident Ryan Fecteau picked up the extra mileage for everyone as he closed out his 888K performance at Infinitus. That massive effort leads off this edition of the roundup.

Infinitus

Ryan Fecteau isn’t one to back down from a challenge. The 31-year-old resident of Framingham, Mass., has has more than a dozen finishes of 100 miles or more to his credit, starting with the 2016 TARC 100, and including grueling events such as the Cruel Jewel 100 in Georgia, the HURT 100 in Hawaii, the Bigfoot 200 in Washington, the Moab 240 in Utah, and the Badwater 135 in Death Valley, Calif. He added finishes of the Riverlands 100 in Maine and Mogollon Monster 100 in Arizona to his list of accomplishments in 2023. On May 16-25, he completed his grandest ultramarathon effort yet when he finished the 888K (551-mile) race at the ninth edition of Infinitus in Ripton, Vt.

Fecteau is no stranger to Infinitus – an event that offers 888K, Deca-Marathon, 250-mile, Penta-Marathon, 100-mile and 88K ultras in addition to a 9-mile race – on the rugged trails of Vermont. He finished seventh at the Infinitus 88K in 2016 and second at the Infinitus 100-miler in 2017. He’s also come up short a few times, including DNFs of the 100-miler in 2021 and the 888K in 2022. Fecteau returned with a vengeance in 2024 and fought his way to the finish line. He was one of seven runners to start the 888K, and the only one to finish. He completed the race in 228 hours, 4 minutes. He was paced for the final 88K by Shaun Daylor. Daylor, 45, of Lakeville, Mass., who was entered in the 88K race (28th place; 17:16:00), completed the 888K in 2021 in 229:16:00 and helped his friend become one of just a handful of runners to ever finish the event’s most daunting distance.

Eight runners started the Deca-Marathon, and six ultimately finished. Jeremy Greenwood, 45, of Richmond, Va., led the way, completing his 10 marathons over 10 days in 79:07. It was a 5-hour improvement from 2023 when he was the event’s runner-up. John Spelko, 77, of Monson, Mass., completed the event for the fourth time and was the runner-up in 88:19. George Alexion, 64, of Waterboro, Maine, earned his second Deca-Marathon finish and placed third in 91:53. Stuart Johnson, 64, of Queensbury, N.Y., finished fourth in 96:09. The event’s lone female finisher, 44-year-old Claire Robinson-White of Milton, Vt., was fifth overall in 100:03, and 55-year-old Clifford Piper of Salisbury, Vt., was sixth in 114:16.

Five runners took on the 250-mile race, and three finished. Sion Doyon, 44, of Otterburn Park, Quebec, earned the victory in 94:24, followed by top female Stephanie Abrell, 44, of Barnard, Vt., in 100:09, and 38-year-old Wayne Bianchetta of Newburgh, N.Y., in 121:37.

Six runners attempted to complete five marathons in five days – the Penta-Marathon – and five did so. Andy Vermilyea, 42, of Castleton, Vt., led the way in 24:02, followed by 41-year-old Nico Rottstaedt of Ripton, Vt., in 26:30. Garrett Gaudette, 33, of Marshfield, Mass., rounded out the men’s podium in 30:10. Jodie Davis, 32, of Boston, Mass., was the lone female finisher in 35:03, and 43-year-old Kevin Lasko of Pittsfield, Vt., rounded out the field in 35:37.

Runners in the 100-mile race had 48 hours to finish. Twenty-five started the race and 18 got it done before the cutoff. Mark Hartman, 36, of Coventry, R.I., finished first in 26:55:26, followed by Scott Slater, 46, and Sarah Slater, 46, both of Guilford, Conn., who ran together in 28:33:00. Deik-Marten Bernhard, 3, of Somersworth, N.H., was fourth overall and the third-place male in 32:24:00. Joining Sarah Slater on the women’s podium were Julia Boucher, 25, of Arlington, Mass., and Nicole Leach, 45, of Lebanon, Pa., who finished in 41:42:00 and 43:07:00, respectively.

The event’s shortest ultra, the 88K (54.7 miles), saw 44 runners start and 34 finish within 24 hours. Cole Johnson, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., won in a course-record 9:26:42, followed by 42-year-old Joshua Fiore of Lebanon, N.H., in 9:42:06. Fiore outkicked Pavel Zhelnin to the finish with Zhelnin, 23, of Goshen, Vt., taking third in 9:43:19. Stephanie Hudon, 40, of Quebec, was the first-place female in 13:16:41, followed by Amanda Riggs, 38, of Chazy, N.Y., in 15:26:00, and Brittany Crocco, 38, of Wilder, Vt., in 15:45:00.

Trail Festival at Pineland Farms

A packed field of ultrarunners logged major mileage and turned in speedy performances at the annual Trail Festival at Pineland Farms on May 25-26 in New Gloucester, Maine. The event included 24-hour, 100K and 50K ultras in addition to several sub-ultra distance offerings.

Forty-five runners competed in the 24-hour solo race, and four of them surpassed the 100-mile mark. Jason Geroux, 39, of Orrington, Maine, dominated the race and logged a winning tally of 115.6 miles after 22:59:01 of running. Chris Mitola, 27, of Ludlow, Vt., Nick Menice, of Monmouth, Maine., and John EddyBlouin, 57, of Bristol, Maine, each finished 102.0 miles, with Mitola doing so in 22:17:25, Menice in 23:00:58, and EddyBlouin in 24:47:08. Brandon Manzo, 52, of Milton, Vt., followed with 95.2 miles in 22:09:12. Bobbi-Jo Thomas, 44, of Jefferson, Maine, was the top female finisher with 88.4 miles in 23:02:11.

Another 21 runners finished the 100K race, with the top trio outdistancing the rest of the field by more than two hours. Michael Scarlett, 28, and Davis Cutter, 31, of Needham, Mass., went 1-2 overall in 8:40:49 and 8:45:15, while third overall finisher and first-place female, 21-year-old Lila Gaudrault of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, followed close behind in 8:51:52. Adam Bitten, 35, rounded out the men’s podium and was fourth overall in 11:06:33. Ying Tao, 39, of Maynard, Mass., and Deirdre Lowe, 44, of Salem, Mass., joined Gaudrault on the women’s podium in 11:16:23 and 12:12:38, respectively.

Eighty-six runners finished the 50K race, and the top three runners scorched the course as Ryan Morrison, Adam Schwendt and Colleen Sands all broke the 4-hour mark. Morrison, 26, of North Yarmouth, Maine, earned the overall win in 3:30:06, followed by Schwendt, 26, of Colorado Springs, Colo, in 3:42:59. Sands, 28, of Princeton, Mass., was third overall and the first-place female in 3:53:41. Kevin Eastler, 46, of Rockport, Maine, was fourth overall and the third male in 4:12:00, followed by 39-year-old Dylan Armajani of Winchester, Mass., in 4:20:37. Christin Doneski, 53, of Hopkinton, N.H., and Jody DiCicco, 25, of Concord, N.H., joined Sands on the women’s podium in 4:25:03 and 4:53:56, respectively. Alia Rawji, 33, of Boston, Mass., was a close fourth in 4:56:02.

Capital Backyard Ultra

A man from Maine was among the competitors at the fifth annual Capital Backyard Ultra on May 25-27 in Lorton, Va. The event used the standard 4.167-mile course, with a rolling trail day loop course and a paved night loop.

Of the 46 runners who took part in the event, 16 achieved 100 miles or more, and the top male and female runners each surpassed the 200-mile mark with 33-year-old Levi Yoder of Dundee, Ohio, earning the win with 270.83 miles and 58-year-old Jennifer Russo of New Richmond, Ohio, earning the assist with 266.66 miles. It was Russo’s second straight year earning the assist. She logged 308.33 miles in 2023 while pushing Scott Snell to victory with 312.5 miles and a course record.

One New England resident was among the field, and he was also one of those who logged triple-digit mileage. Ryan Metivier, 48, of Auburn, Maine, tied for 11th with 104.16 miles after 25 hours of running. Metivier has been a regular on the Last Person Standing circuit in recent years, having taken part in at least nine events of that format. He won the 2023 Last Man Standing Ultramarathon in New Gloucester, Maine, after 147 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.