After kicking off this week’s roundup with a look at Northeast races from the Oct. 11-13 weekend, here in Part II we look to the Midwest and West where New Englanders raced in Oregon, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. Included among those efforts were a podium finish for Maine’s Eli Nixon at the Angel’s Rest 50K, and a fourth-place showing for Boston’s Aadi Khasgiwala at the Des Plaines River Trail 50K to lead off Part II of this week’s roundup.

Angel’s Rest 50K

Eli Nixon was the only New Englander at the inaugural Angel’s Rest 50K on Saturday, Oct. 12, in Cascade Locks, Ore., but he made the region’s presence felt in a major way.

Runners took on a scenic course In the Columbia River Gorge, including several waterfalls, views of Angel’s Rest and Devil’s Rest, and a trip to the top of Larch Mountain, all while amassing around 6,500 feet of climbing.

Nixon, 27, of Portland, Maine, battled hard all day and was in the hunt for the win with less than a mile to go. Ultimately, Nixon finished second overall in 4:27:07, less than a minute behind 45-year-old Christopher Jones of Bend, Ore., who won in 4:26:19. Steve Van Knotsenburg, 42, of Lions Bay, B.C., was a distant third in 5:08:52. Ashley Figel, 33, of Corbett, Ore., was fifth overall and the top female in 5:09:46. Fifty-four runners finished the race within 10 hours.

Des Plaines River Trail Races

Aadi Khasgiwala had a memorable ultramarathon debut at the 14th annual Des Plaines River Trail Races 50K on Saturday, Oct. 12, in Lake County, Ill. Khasgiwala, 19, of Winchester, Mass., was one of 94 runners who completed the event’s 50K race on the flat, crushed-gravel course on the Des Plaines River Trail. Khasgiwala hammered the smooth trail and raced with the front-runners from the start before ultimately finishing fourth in a speedy 4:24:53. Marc Nelson, 36, of Lake Bluff, Ill., won in 4:02:01, followed by 48-year-old David Vincent of Arlington Heights, Ill. (4:15:20) and Jorge Roca, 37, of Cumming, Ga. (4:16:46). Leslie Paine, 49, of Woodbury, Minn., was seventh overall and the first-place female in 4:37:55.

Khasgiwala wasn’t the only New Englander to make an ultra debut at Des Plaines. Rylee Keaten, 21, of Farmington, Maine, did so, too, and finished 58th overall in 6:50:58.

An additional 51 runners completed the event’s 50-mile race, though none were New England residents.

Sage Burner Trail Race

David Joseph soaked up the Colorado scenery at the 16th edition of the Sage Burner Trail Race 50K on Saturday, Oct. 12, in Gunnison, Colo. The event took place at the Hartman Rocks Recreation Area and treated runners to panoramic views of the San Juan Mountains, Maroon Bells, and the Gunnison Basin while running on singletrack and doubletrack trails and technical slickrock.

Runners had 9 hours to finish the race. Joseph, 37, of Great Barrington, Mass., placed 29th in 8:32:44. Jim McCue, 35, of Denver, Colo., dominated the race and won in 4:21:31. Overall runner-up Emily Stahl, 28, of Arlington, Va., topped the women’s field in 5:22:40.

Canyon de Chelly Ultra

Karen Clark has big goals ahead of her before the year is done. She will run the Haunted 30-Mile Night Race on Oct. 19 at Ghost Train, and then take on 30 hours at the Hamsterwheel in early November. As a final tune-up, Clark traveled to run the Canyon de Chelly Ultra 55K on Saturday, Oct. 12, on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.

The 12th annual event took runners 17 miles into the canyon before reaching the turnaround point and returning to the starting point, all on singletrack trails and sandy canyon floor. It was Clark’s second time at the race; she was seventh in the women’s field at the 2022 event.

This time, Clark placed 75th out of 126 runners within 11 ½ hours. Clark, 36, of Lee, N.H., finished in 9:07:23. Zachary Thomas, 39, of Golden, Colo., led all runners in 5:05:13. Emily Keranen, 41, of Lakewood, Colo., finished fourth overall and was the first-place female in 5:42:57.

Cactus to Cloud Sky Race

High altitude wasn’t too much for Rohit Shah to handle at the Cactus to Cloud Sky Race 50K on Saturday, Oct. 12, in Cloudcroft, N.M. Shah and his fellow runners took on a point-to-point course at Oliver Lee State Park where the entire course existed at more than 4,000 feet above sea level with a significant portion above 9,000 feet.

Shah, 42, of Boston, Mass., was 25th out of 40 finishers in 9:40:09. Nina Mutschke, 31, of El Paso, Texas, was the overall winner in a new women’s course record time of 6:42:10. Kyle Jones, 45, of Belaire, Texas, was second overall and the top male in 7:54:10.

*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.