Ultramarathons were aplenty in the Northeast during the Aug. 23-25 weekend, and we have them covered here in Part I of this week’s roundup. In Massachusetts, the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the ninth edition of the Jug End Loop Ultra 6-hour race, which will be covered in a separate recap. Beyond the Bay State, runners took on 50-mile and 50K distances at the Firebird Trail Races in Maine, several others hit the trails at a trio of ultras in New York, and a few more raced in New Jersey. Additionally, results are still coming in from about a half-dozen ultras in the Midwest and West where New Englanders toed the starting line, and we’ll have them covered in Part II.

Firebird Trail Races

Tough running was required by runners in the 50-mile and 50K ultras at the sixth annual Firebird Trail Races on Saturday, Aug. 24, in Windham, Maine. Runners took on a 10-mile loop course on loads of rocky, rooty, technical singletrack trails in the Lowell Preserve and North Falmouth Community Forest.

Six runners started the 50-miler and just two finished within the 13-hour time limit. Greg Merritt, 35, of Falmouth, Maine, won the race in 10:53:01 and 33-year-old Jake Chambers of Portland, Maine, followed in 12:40:56.

Nineteen runners started the 50K race and 15 ultimately finished. The men’s and women’s champions went 1-2 overall, with 30-year-old Sam Conologue of South Portland, Maine, leading the way in 5:24:05 and 30-year-old Alia Johnson of Portland, Maine, following in 5:51:50. Rich Vessey, 37, of North Yarmouth, Maine, and Jason Howe, 44, of Gorham, Maine, joined Conologe on the men’s podium in 6:30:05 and 6:44:55, respectively. Johnson and 62-year-old Eunice Foss of Fruitland, Idaho, were the lone female finishers, with Foss the runner-up in 8:40:19.

Dirty Dozen 50K

Donald Coletta may be just 21 years old, but he has already put up several strong performances in his budding ultrarunning career. He logged 35 miles in a first-place finish at the 2022 Lover’s Laine 6-hour ultra in Vermont and was the men’s winner of the 2023 Watuppa 50K in Massachusetts. Coletta added another podium finish to his resume at the eighth edition of the Dirty Dozen 50K on Saturday, Aug. 24, in New York, N.Y.

The race featured a mix of trails and roads in New York City and had an 8-hour time limit. Just 21 runners finished within the limit, and Coletta was the second-fastest of them all. Alex Kunce, 29, of New York, N.Y., won in 4:15:09 and Coletta, of Branford, Conn., was the runner-up in 5:11:14. Women’s champion and third overall finisher Karolina Lohivina, 35, of New York, N.Y., followed minutes later in 5:16:53.

Green Lakes Endurance Runs

Carey Patrick Wertz began running ultras just this year, but the 43-year-old from Waterville, Maine, is already racking up quite the resume. Wertz finished the Squatchapple 50-miler in May, 41.8 miles in the 24-hour race at Notchview in July, and then headed to New York to run the 18th edition of the Green Lakes Endurance Runs on Saturday, Aug. 24, in Fayetteville, N.Y.

The event offered both 100K and 50K ultras, all on mixed surfaces including singletrack and doubletrack dirt trails, grassy fields, dirt roads and asphalt, all on a 7.75-mile loop. Wertz raced the 100K, requiring eight loops of the course.

Just five runners finished the race within 14 hours. Martin Rouillard, 53, of Laval, Quebec, led the way in 11:29:43. Wertz finished fourth in 12:54:36.

Another 39 runners finished the 50K race. Shizhong Yang, 43, of Syracuse, N.Y., won the race in 3:59:10. The lone New England resident in the field – Douglas Lord, 54, of Burlington, Conn. – placed 20th in 6:52:17.

Twisted Branch 100K

New Englanders packed the top 10 in the men’s and women’s races at the 10th edition of the Twisted Branch 100K on Saturday, Aug. 24, in Naples, N.Y.

The event offered a point-to-point course on the Bristol Hills Branch Trail with a mix of fast-running singletrack and technical rocks and roots and around 10,000 feet of climbing. There were 156 finishers within the 20-hour time limit on a day where both men’s and women’s course records fell.

Parker Weeks, 31, of Canandaigua, N.Y., dominated the men’s field and won in a new course-record time of 9:57:57. He was joined on the podium by a pair of New England men as 36-year-old Ben Quatromoni of Newport, R.I., finished second in 10:54:32, and 38-year-old Andrew Tidd of Plymouth, Mass., was third in 11:20:08. Fred Willis, 39, of Cheshire, Conn., joined them in the top 10 with his sixth-place finish in 12:17:48.

In the women’s field, 32-year-old Jessie George of Fairport, N.Y., won in a course-record 12:24:04. Zoe Fortier, 40, of Elkridge, Md., and Kehr Davis, 47, of Pittsfield, Mass., joined her on the podium in 13:47:27 and 14:05:00, respectively. Jessica Finocchiaro, 29, of Cambridge, Mass., was fifth in 14:44:29; Morgan Blevins, 27, of Somerville, Mass., was sixth in 14:52:48; and Caitlin Howes, 42, of Suffield, Conn., finished 10th in 15:44:56.

TPK Debauchery

A Connecticut couple had a big day of racing at the second annual TPK Debauchery Ultras on Saturday, Aug. 24, in Stanhope, N.J. The event offered 100K and 50K ultras on a 25K loop course with 3,000 feet of climbing per loop. Runners alternated directions each lap, with those in the 100K running it four times and the 50K competitors completing it twice.

Of the 13 runners who started the 100K race, just seven completed their four loops and 12,000 feet of climbing within the 20-hour time limit. No New Englanders were among the field as 35-year-old Justin Lewandowski of Newton, N.J., won in 13:42:49.

Thirty-one runners completed the 50K, including Drew and Amanda Jett of Burlington, Conn. Drew Jett, 37, finished fourth overall in 6:25:45, missing a spot on the men’s podium by two minutes. John Belmont, 35, of Port Washington, N.Y., and Mike Squillante, 31, of Blairstown, N.J., went 1-2 overall in 5:03:28 and 6:14:34, respectively, and both broke the previous course record.

Amanda Jett, 34, finished fifth overall and was first place in the women’s race in 7:11:37, establishing a new women’s course record for her effort. Runner-up Christa Sidoti, 27, of Hackensack, N.J., also broke the previous course record with her 7:21:41 performance.

*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.