New England ultrarunners were busy racing from coast-to-coast during the June 28-30 weekend, including the inaugural Edge Hill 50K from Beast Coast Trail Running in Massachusetts and the historic Western States Endurance Run in California. Both of those events will have their own separate recaps, but here in the roundup we’ve tried to catch up on as many other events as possible. Several New Englanders raced close to home, at the Centurion Ultra Trail Event and the Ansonia 6-Hour Ultra in Connecticut, or the Mt. Sparta 24-Hour Challenge in Vermont. Others went to nearby New York for the Finger Lakes 50s. Others went West to the Methodist Mountain 50K in Colorado, the Washington state version of the Yeti 100, and the Black Hills 100 in South Dakota. Results from Ansonia, Mt. Sparta, and Black Hills have yet to be posted, but we have all of the other events included in this edition of the roundup.

Catamount Ultra

Lila Gaudrault’s wrecking ball of a year continued at the Catamount Ultra on Saturday, June 29, in Stowe, Vt., as the 21-year-old from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, smashed yet another course record.

Gaudrault opened the year by setting the women’s course record at the GAC Fat Ass 50K on January 6. In April, she set the course record at the TARC Spring Classic 50K. May was a big month as she broke the course records at the 3 Days at the Fair 12-hour race and the Pineland Farms 100K, before adding two more record-setting performances in June at the Chesterfield Gorge 100K and the inaugural 6 at the Springs.

Gaudrault’s latest record-setting effort came at the 10th annual Catamount Ultra 50K, which consisted of two 25K loops on the Trapp Family Lodge trail system, amassing more than 4,700 feet of climbing along the way. Gaudrault had company at the front of the field, with 2023 champion and 2022 runner-up Samantha Stimac also vying for the victory, and Maddy Pfeifer also close by. Ultimately, all three broke the course record of 4:20:49 that Britta Clark held since 2019. Gaudrault earned the win in 4:07:01, followed by Stimac, 30, of Wells River, Vt., in 4:10:41, and Pfeifer, 29, of Williston, Vt., in 4:14:45. Rounding out the women’s top five were Leah Williams, 27, of Somerville, Mass., in 4:44:41, and 33-year-old Dylan Broderick of Middlesex, Vt. – the 2017 and 2023 runner-up – in 4:54:49.

In the men’s field, Mead Binhammer had another big day in his build-up to the Jigger Johnson 50-miler. After opening the year with a victory at the TARC Spring Classic 50K, Binhammer followed it up with a win in the Breakneck Point 42K in New York. At Catamount, Binhammer logged his third victory of the year in 3:46:46 and came within 4 minutes of breaking the course record. Sean Macdonald, 27, of Boston, Mass., was a close second in 3:54:35, followed by 30-year-old Wanis Boukra-Bettayeb of Magog, Quebec, in 4:02:33. Nathan Lalonde, 27, of Richmond, Vt., was the fourth-place male in 4:08:19.

There were 209 finishers within 9 1/2 hours. Other top performers from the region included Patrick Daley, 24, of Malden, Mass., who was seventh overall in 4:14:20; Jonathon Western, 39, of Topsfield, Mass., who was 10th overall in 4:19:00; Tejas Kannan, 27, of Cambridge, Mass., who was 11th overall in 4:31:45; and Magnus Hayden, 16, of Elmore, Vt., who was 13th overall in 4:39:10.

Centurion Ultra Trail Event 33-hour

Record-setting performances were delivered at the fourth edition of the Centurion Ultra Trail Event on June 29-30 in Stratford, Conn. Runners took on an approximately 2.5-mile loop course through the Roosevelt Forest with rolling hills, singletrack and doubletrack trails, rocks and roots, and around 193 feet of climbing per loop, and they had 33 hours to complete as many miles as they could. Forty-two runners logged mileage at the event, including several who achieved triple-digit distance by the time the clock expired.

Leading the way were the top men’s and women’s performances in event history from Chase Arsenault and Amy Adams. Arsenault, 27, of Westerly, R.I., has been a regular at the event. He won its inaugural 24-hour race in 2021 with 100.75 miles, and then was fifth overall in the 33-hour race in 2023 with 100.004 miles. This year he set a new course record and finished first overall with 122.5 miles in 31:43:19. Adams, 48, of Manchester, Md., was second overall and set the women’s course record with 120.0 miles in 32:37:24. Three more runners surpassed the 100-mile mark, with second- and third-place men Nick Puertas, 38, of Kingston, N.Y., and Ken Ildefonso, 37, of Oxford, Ohio, and women’s runner-up Marissa Theofanides, 39, of Nyack, N.Y., all completing 102.5 miles.

Nine more runners completed exactly 100 miles, including New Englanders John Sudol, 31, of Harwinton, Conn. (28:24:55); Derek Rosner, 49, of Farmington, Conn. (28:45:57); Catherine Walsh, 47, of Bethany, Conn. (29:40:48); and Matt Bellantoni, 33, of Newtown, Conn. (21:55:54).

Finger Lakes 50s

A Massachusetts man brought home a victory at the 27th edition of the Finger Lakes 50s on Saturday, June 29, in Hector, N.Y. The event offered 50-mile and 50K ultras, all on a 16.5-mile loop course through the Finger Lakes National Forest consisting of mostly singletrack trails, some grassy pastures and a little bit of pavement.

The 50K came in a little bit “heavy” on distance with two loops of the course and about 33 miles of running. Seventy-eight runners completed that distance, but none were faster than 24-year-old Brian Brennan of Stoneham, Mass. It was Brennan’s second ultra – his debut came at the Griffith Park Trail Marathon 50K in Los Angeles in 2022 – and his first victory. He hammered the loops and then fought off a stiff challenge at the end, crossing the finish line in 4:53:30. Banyan Love, 18, of Newfield, N.Y., followed just five seconds later as the runner-up in 4:53:35. Deb Dzurinko, 47, of Wysox, Pa., was eighth overall and the first-place female in 5:56:48.

Six other New Englanders joined Brennan among the finishers. Zachary Davis, 23, of Tamworth, N.H., capped his ultra debut with a 23rd-place finish in 6:40:51. Kimberly Fitzgerald, 40, of East Haven, Conn., was the ninth-place female and 39th overall in 7:47:34; Mike Feinberg, 48, of North Haven, Conn., was 48th in 8:03:46; Kristin Winstanley, 48, and Lufeng Zou, 39, both of Wallingford, Conn., tied for 53rd in 8:21:04; and John Uniack Davis, 62, of Tamworth, N.H., was 61st in 8:39:23.

Another 24 runners finished the 50-mile race, which required completing three loops of the course, along with an extra half-mile mini-loop to achieve the distance. Xavier Boyer, 26, of Waterbury, Conn., was the top New Englander in the field and a podium finisher as he placed third overall in 9:13:38. It was his second 50-miler and a personal record for the distance. Greg Close, 41, of Brooklyn, N.Y., won in 7:09:34. Lauren Udwari, 41, of Brevard, N.C., was fifth overall and first in the women’s field in 9:29:52. Sue Dodge, 64, of Williston, Vt., was the women’s runner-up in 10:40:33. She will aim to build upon the performance when she takes on the Resurrection Pass 100 in Alaska in July, followed by the Javelina Jundred 100-miler in Arizona in October.

Other New Englanders among the 50-mile finishers were William Roach, 48, of Hanover, N.H., who was seventh overall in 10:08:42; as well as Kevin Koncilja, 35, of Boston, Mass. (11:45:23), and Laura Hernandez, 25, of Boston, Mass. (12:34:11).

Yeti 100-Mile Endurance Run – Washington

Fresh off of earning her first 100-mile finish at the 2023 Yeti 100 Endurance Run in Virginia, Erika Hamel signed up for her second 100 – also the Yeti 100 Endurance Run – at the event organizer’s Pacific Northwest edition on June 28-29 in Hyak, Wash.

The fifth annual Washington edition of the Yeti 100 took place on a rail trail through the central Cascades, offering crushed limestone trails and big views without the big climbs. Hamel, 38, of Nashua, N.H., was one of 64 runners to complete the 100-miler within the 30-hour time limit, doing so in 27:45:44, a personal-best for the distance. Jeremy Douglas, 41, of North Vancouver, B.C., and Anastasia Rolek, 44, of Lakewood, Colo., were the top male and female finishers in 16:33:23 and 18:26:49, respectively. Douglas and Rolek logged the second-fastest men’s and women’s performances in event history.

Now that she has completed the Yeti 100s on each coast, Hamel is turning her focus to New England 100-milers. She will run the Notchview 100.7-miler in July in Massachusetts, and then is signed up for the 30-hour race at the Hamsterwheel in New Hampshire in November.

The Yeti 100 also offered 100K and 50-mile races. Forty-eight runners finished the 100K race and 24 completed the 50-miler; none were New England residents.

Methodist Mountain 50K

Sean Macardle didn’t pick an easy ultra for his first one. Macardle, 48, of Colchester, Vt., opted for a tough race in the Sangre De Cristo mountains at the second annual Methodist Mountain 50K on Saturday, June 29, in Salida, Colo.

The course consisted mostly of singletrack trails and around 5,500 feet of climbing while challenging runners with altitude the entire way. Macardle was one of 33 runners to finish the race, completing the course in 8:50:04. Lewis Price, 33, of Denver, Colo., dominated the race and won by 41 minutes in 4:50:31 and was the lone sub-5-hour finisher. Just five runners finished in less than 6 hours.

*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.