Runners barely had time to recover from a big weekend at the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s multi-day Notchview Ultra when an even more jam-packed weekend of ultrarunning unfolded in New England. The July 19-21 weekend brought a triple-dose of regional running with the classic Vermont 100, the Jigger Johnson Ultras in New Hampshire, and the new Spaulding Woods 50K in New Hampshire all taking place. Additionally, a few runners from the region traveled to nearby New York for the Many on the Genny 45-miler. We have them all covered in this edition of the roundup… but that’s just Part I. Several runners from the region headed West to at least a half-dozen ultras, so we’ll have that slate covered in Part II.

Vermont 100

Extreme heat, humidity and occasional heavy rains have long been hallmarks of the Vermont 100 Endurance Run. A year after the event was canceled due to severe flooding, the 33rd running of the 100-mile and 100K race returned with some of the finest conditions in history on July 20-21 in Windsor, Vt. Runners took full advantage with a high finisher rate and plenty of fast times. Most notably, the women shined in the 100-miler.

A field of 313 runners gathered for the 4 a.m. start for the 100-miler. They had 30 hours to complete the distance, running 68 miles on hilly dirt country roads, 30 miles on horse trails, and 2 miles on the rare stretches of pavement, all while amassing around 17,000 feet of elevation gain. The runners enjoyed mild humidity, sunny skies, and temperatures ranging from the mid-50s to upper 70s, making for pleasant running on a dry course. Ultimately, 254 runners finished within the time limit, and five of the top nine were women – including the overall champion.

After earning top-10 finishes at the 2022 Vermont 50 and 2023 Grindstone 100K and Black Canyon 60K ultras, as well as a victory in May at the Jemez Mountain 50-miler in New Mexico, Sarah Gage put together a nearly flawless race in her 100-mile debut at the Vermont 100. Gage ran near the front throughout and ultimately earned the overall victory in 17:19:45, five minutes ahead of men’s champion and overall runner-up Spencer Imbach, 32, of Reisterstown, Md., another first-time 100-mile runner who finished in 17:24:59. Imbach fended off Aaron Stevens, 34, of Salem, N.H., who was third overall in 17:28:58, as well as Michael Scarlett, 28, of Cambridge, Mass. (17:33:22) and Matthew VosBurgh, 35, of Brooklyn, N.Y., (17:43:32) who rounded out the overall top five and the men’s top four. All of the first five finishers were crewed runners.

In a photo finish, second and third overall women (sixth and seventh overall finishers) Justyna Wilson, 48, of Fairless Hills, Pa., and Lila Gaudrault, 21, of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, sprinted down the home stretch and crossed the line side-by-side. Wilson – the 2022 Eastern States 100 champion and 2024 Massanutten Mountain Trails 100-Mile winner – was credited with finishing a second earlier in 18:46:48, followed by Gaudrault in 17:46:49. Like the five finishers before her, Wilson was a crewed runner. Gaudrault – making her 100-mile debut – was the third-place female overall but the event’s first-place solo finisher and also broke the women’s solo course record of 18:05:42 that was set in 2016 by Gina Slaby.

Gaudrault’s record-setting solo run closed out a remarkable two-month racing slate that included seven races, seven wins (including the solo division at Vermont) – three of them outright – and seven course records.

Twelve minutes after Gaudrualt finished, the second-place solo female, fourth overall female and eighth overall finisher was Jenny Hoffman. The 46-year-old from Cambridge, Mass., fresh off of a world-record transcontinental run in 2023, earned her third Vermont 100 finish in 17:58:42. Christine Mosley, 39, of Issaquah, Wash., was the next finisher, placing ninth overall, fourth in the women’s field and third among the solo women in 18:35:45. Peter Flood, 28, of Liverpool, N.Y., rounded out the men’s top five and overall top 10 in 18:36:22.

Brett Maune, 45, of Boulder, Colo., was the top solo male in 19:34:29, good for 13th overall. The top 15 runners finished in less than 20 hours, including New Englanders Samuel Vincent, 25, of Wilmington, Vt. (11th, 19:17:16), Daniel Hartman, 39, of Easthampton, Mass. (14th, 19:53:43), and Danforth Sullivan, 40, of Sudbury, Mass. (19:58:07). Ninety-seven runners finished in less than 24 hours.

The 100K race challenged runners with 9,000 feet of climbing and saw the record boards rewritten as both the men’s solo and crewed records were toppled, as was the women’s crewed record. Galen Hecht, 29, of Anchorage, Alaska, pushed to the overall win in 9:25:33, three minutes ahead of 48-year-old Mathieu Dube of Terrebonne, Quebec, who followed in 9:28:26. Both men secured course records with Hecht eclipsing Brian Rusiecki’s solo mark of 9:39:12 from 2018 and Dube breaking Leigh Schmitt’s crewed record of 9:35:40 from 2010. Third overall finisher Sarah Keyes, 39, of Saranac Lake, N.Y., secured the victory in the women’s field in 9:41:06 and broke the female crewed record that was set by nonbinary athlete Riley Brady (10:03:55) in 2022.

Crewed runner Antoine Beland St-Onge, 30, of Shawinigan, Quebec, was fourth overall and the third male finisher in 10:01:24. Crewed runners Sean MacDonald, 27, of Boston, Mass., and John Paul Krol, 39, of Fryeburg, Maine, followed in 10:50:47 and 10:52:18 respectively.

Crewed runners Colleen Sands, 28, of Amherst, Mass., and Colleen Moffat, 43, of Philadelphia, Pa., were seventh and eighth overall and the final women’s podium finishers in 11:03:23 and 11:51:36, respectively. 

Solo runners Yanbo Zhang, 37, of Winchester, Mass. (12:11:38), and Andrew Drummond, 43, of Jackson, N.H., (12:13:13), rounded out the overall top 10. Completing the women’s top five were Grace Sommer, 31, of Marietta, Ga. (12:38:58), Jade Bihua Zhang, 44, of Belmont, Mass. (13:37:55), and top female solo finisher Sarah Nelson, 48, of Florence, Mass. (13:50:50).

Of the 116 starters, 93 runners finished the 100K within 22 hours. 

Jigger Johnson Ultras

The second edition of the Jigger Johnson Ultras – and inaugural running of its 100-miler – was a rain-soaked affair that turned the already difficult White Mountains into an absolutely daunting challenge. For the third edition on July 19-21 in Waterville Valley, N.H., runners enjoyed the most ideal weather conditions imaginable with mild temperatures and sun. That didn’t change the fact that they were running in the White Mountains for 100 miles, 50 miles or 20 miles, but it made the task at hand a bit more palatable.

Forty-seven runners started the 100-miler in 2023, and just 14 finished. This year, 51 runners began the race and a record 27 successfully completed the grueling out-and-back adventure within the 54-hour time limit. The race took them up and over 4,000-footers Mt. Tecumseh, Mt. Osceola and Mt. East Osceola, as well as Mt. Tremont, Big Attitash Mountain, North Moat Mountain, South Moat Mountain, and Table Mountain, amassing more than 31,000 feet of gain over 108 miles of rugged wilderness terrain.

Keith Nadeau, 35, of Fairhaven, Mass., led the way and set a new course record of 30:27:59. Patrick Hallahan, 36, of Syracuse, N.Y., was the runner-up in 31:14:58, just eight minutes shy of the previous course record. Tanner Honan, 31, of Richmond, Ky., rounded out the men’s podium in 32:37:59, followed by Stephen Kerr, 32, of Portland, Mass. (33:35:42) and Thomas Standish, 18, of Acton, Mass. (34:51:19). Ian Connell, 28, of Guilford, Conn., followed nine minutes later in 35:00:48.

In the women’s field, Katja Fink, 49, of Cambridge, Mass., applied a wealth of experience gained racing in Europe – including a runner-up performance at the 2022 Swiss Alps 100, fifth-place finish at the 2023 Trail Verbier St. Bernard Ultra, and sixth-place finish at the 2023 SwissPeaks 360K – to earn the victory and set a new women’s course record in 37:47:49. Emily Walker, 36, of Bangor, Pa., was a distant second in 47:23:33, and 40-year-old Jacqueline Fucile of Stark, N.H., was third in 50:49:47.

Another 84 runners attempted the 50-mile race on a course that measured in at 56 miles with 16,000 feet of climbing and three 4,000-footer summits. Fifty-nine of those runners finished within 30 hours. Mead Binhammer, 29, of Brookfield, Vt., earned the overall win in a new course-record time of 13:10:24, followed 65 minutes later by 22-year-old Conor Brown of Manchester, N.H., in 14:15:42. Jack Buffington, 19, of Enfield, N.H., was the third-place male and fourth overall finisher in 15:54:41, followed by 23-year-old Carter Tracy of Lebanon, N.H., in 16:06:18. In the women’s field, 36-year-old Larisa Dannis MacFadden of New London, N.H., led the way in 15:05:47 and also placed third overall while setting a new women’s course record. Erica LuBera, 33, of Bangor, Pa., was the runner-up in 16:44:20, followed by 25-year-old Kaitlyn Mac Guthrie of Ashby, Mass., and 28-year-old Ashley Youland of Raymond, Maine, who who rounded out the podium in a tie for third in 18:06:48.

An additional 112 runners finished the Jigger Johnson 20-miler, which is part of the White Mountain Endurance Cup. Daniel Curtis, 28, of Lebanon, N.H., topped the men’s field in 3:23:30, followed by Peter Bonito, 39, of Westmoreland, N.H., in 3:47:20 and 24-year-old Max Perozek of Brookline, Mass., in 3:47:44. Haley Heinrich, 31, of Newbury, N.H., was the first female in 4:01:13, followed closely by 26-year-old Charlotte Winkler of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, in 4:04:44. Lindsay Weigel, 31, of Concord, N.H., rounded out the podium in 4:11:49.

Spaulding Woods 50K

New Hampshire’s newest trail ultramarathon – the Spaulding Woods 50K – was won by a new ultrarunner. The inaugural event took place on Saturday, July 20, in Northfield, N.H., challenging runners with a 5.4-mile loop course loaded with technicality, including plenty of rocks and roots. Runners had to complete six loops and around 4,200 feet of climbing to successfully finish.

Thirty-six runners took on the challenge, and just half the field – 18 runners – finished. Ari Silverfine did so the fastest. Silverfine, 27, of Somerville, Mass., was victorious in his ultramarathon debut, winning a close race in 6:02:17. Ultra veteran Michael Obara, 47, of North Kingstown, R.I., followed minutes behind in 6:05:43. Another ultra veteran, Bertram Johnson, 51, of Burlington, Vt., was third in 6:49:06.

Ryan Koeppke, 20, of Durham, N.H., was fourth in 7:12:07, followed by Garth Robinson, 27, of Roanoke, Va. (7:14:49) and Joseph Kostan, 53, of Newburyport, Mass. (7:55:49) as the lone sub-8-hour finishers. Eunice Foss, 61, of Fruitland, Idaho, was the women’s champion in 9:10:54, followed by 47-year-old Stephanie Call of New Durham, Ala., in 9:24:16.

Many on the Genny

Fresh off of being featured as one of the best under-the-radar ultras by iRunFar columnist Andy Jones-Wilkins, three New England residents experienced the event for themselves when they took part in the Many on the Genny Ultra on Saturday, July 20, in Castile, N.Y. The 45-mile trail race took runners outbound on one side of the gorge in Letchworth State Park and then back on the other side.

Jonathan Popham, 28, of New Haven, Conn., and Daniel Ebbs, 40, of Wilton, Conn., finished together in 12:04:01 and 12:04:03, respectively, and 62-year-old Gretchen Gordon of Pembroke, Maine, also finished in 13:21:49. Joshua Zubler, 35, of Gowanda, N.Y., and Lindsay Piraino, 28, of Rush, N.Y., went 1-2 overall and topped the men’s and women’s fields in 6:53:13 and 7:22:58, respectively. There were 102 finishers within 14 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.