Cold temperatures and snow snuck into New England during the Jan. 17-19 weekend, but several ultrarunners from the region escaped to warmer climates to race. That included Maine’s Ben Grasso who journeyed to Arizona to complete 100K at Coldwater Rumble, and New Hampshire’s Rick Horton and Aaron Sylvain who ran 100 miles in Florida at the Long Haul 100. A handful of others raced for 34 hours at Dark Anchor in Georgia, while Connecticut’s Lauren Defeancesco tackled a backyard ultra in Tennessee. We have it all covered in this edition of the roundup.

Coldwater Rumble

After making his trail-running debut in May at the Pineland Farms 25K, Ben Grasso made the leap to ultramarathon running when he took on the 100K distance at the 15th edition of the Coldwater Rumble Ultras on Jan. 18-19 in Goodyear, Ariz.

The 100K, as well as the 100-mile and 60K distances, took runners on multi-loop courses on desert trails through the foothills of the Sierra Estrella Mountains in Estrella Mountain Regional Park. The 100K distance was offered for just the second time, and 34 runners completed it within 30 hours. Lucie Rathbun, 30, of Grand Junction, Colo., earned the overall win in 9:20:33, followed 10 minutes later by men’s champion and overall runner-up Matthew Bradner, 39, of Ames, Iowa, in 9:30:09. Grasso, 47, of Cumberland Foreside, Maine, had a strong day of running and placed 12th overall in 14:49:17.

No New Englanders were among the 62 finishers of the event’s 100-mile race or the 71 finishers of the 60K race.

Long Haul 100

A pair of New Hampshire men kicked off the new year by completing 100 miles at the Long Haul 100 on Oct. 18-19 in Lakeland, Fla. Both Rick Horton of Winchester and Aaron Sylvain of Tilton were among the 149 runners who finished the 15th annual race.

Runners had 32 hours to complete six 16.7-mile loops of mostly flat trails through Colt Creek State Park. Both Horton, 52, and Sylvain, 44, knew they could cover the distance because they’d each done it twice before. Horton finished the Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail 100 in October 2024, followed by the Tampa Bay 100 a month later. Meanwhile, Sylvain completed the Ghost Train 100-miler in 2023 and the Javelina Jundred in 2024. At Long Haul, Horton finished 79th overall in 26:49:34 while Sylvain followed in 89th place in 27:43:54.

Rob King, 32, of Washington, Ohio, dominated the race and won by more than 2 hours in 14:26:56. Loan Vo, 42, of Brandon, Fla., topped the female field and placed seventh overall in 18:12:20.

Dark Anchor 34-Hour

It has been more than 5 years since Liza Neustaetter ran her last ultramarathon, but the 39-year-old from Cambridge, Mass., put up a big number in her ultra return at the third annual Dark Anchor 34-hour ultra on Jan. 17-18 in Savannah, Ga.

Competing alongside 187 other runners on a 3.5-mile loop course that began and ended by touching an old-school Pepsi machine in the park, Neustaetter completed 70 miles and tied for 44th place overall. It was her longest run ever, surpassing her 61.25-mile performance at the 2018 Anchor Down Ultra 24-hour race in Rhode Island.

Neustaetter was joined by four more New Englanders in the field. Josh Chace, 45, and Molly Chace, 40, both of Hudson, N.H., completed 63 miles and tied for 52nd. Molly Chase ran Dark Anchor last year and posted the same mileage tally. Additionally, 42-year-old Payton Corbett of Somerville, Mass., finished 99th with a personal-best 56 miles after completing 42 miles the previous year in his ultra debut, while 43-year-old Katie Gray of Salem, N.H., finished 42 miles and tied for 128th. It was Gray’s second-longest run ever, trailing only her 64.6-mile performance at the 2023 Notchview Ultra 72-hour race.

A trio of runners led the way with 119 miles apiece. That included top women Renee Crickenberger, 43, of Charlotte, N.C., and Michelle Goldberg, 49, of Meadowbrook, Pa., as well as top male Richard Higgins, 36, of Woodstock, Ga. Thirty-one runners completed at least 101.5 miles.

MAD Backyard Ultra

Lauren Defeancesco kicked off 2025 by completing her longest run ever at the fourth annual MAD Backyard Ultra on Jan. 18-19 in East Ridge, Tenn. The last-person-standing event used a 4.167-mile loop course on trail gravel and grass in Camp Jordan Park.

Defrancesco, 42, of Guilford, Conn., was one of 71 runners who took part. She entered with two previous ultramarathons to her credit, the longest being the Dead Horse Ultra 50-miler in Moab, Utah, in 2022. Defrancesco completed 54.21 miles at the backyard ultra and tied for 36th.

Kyle Kalbus, 39, of Chattanooga, Tenn., was the last runner standing with 141.78 miles while 59-year-old Richard Kwiatkowski of Earlysville, Va., earned the assist with 137.61 miles. Twelve runners achieved the 100-mile milestone. Hope Grismer, 23, of Sioux Falls, S.D., was the final female standing with 79.23 miles, good for a tie for 14th overall.

*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.