The TARCtic Frozen Yeti was the place to be in New England for ultrarunning during the Feb. 1-2 weekend as runners took on a 15-mile snow- and ice-coated course at Hale Reservation in Massachusetts. A handful of runners from the region ventured elsewhere to race, however. Several headed to Texas for the Rocky Raccoon 100, a few headed to Florida, while others traveled to Arizona. One even ventured to Missouri to race. We’ll have the Frozen Yeti featured in a separate story, but we have the events from beyond the region covered in this edition of the roundup.

Rocky Raccoon 100

Michael Obara closed out the 2024 ultrarunning season with a runner-up 100-mile performance at the Tesla Hertz Run in October in New York. He kicked off his 2025 campaign with another speedy effort at a much larger race. Obara earned a top-10 overall finish at the Rocky Raccoon 100 on Feb. 1-2 at Huntsville State Park in Huntsville, Texas.

Competing once again at the 100-mile distance, Obara, 48, of North Kingstown, R.I., hammered the flat, fast multi-loop course and took advantage of some of the best course conditions in years at the typically soggy venue. Obara placed ninth overall in 18:39:39, earning a personal-best time for the distance.

Colin MacFarlane, 35, of Portland, Ore., earned the overall victory in 15:53:51 while Tatiana Rypinski, 31, of Houston, Texas, led the female field in 18:56:19 and placed 10th overall out of 268 finishers within the 32-hour time limit.

Obara was one of three New England residents among the finishers. Louie Ketcios, 24, of Winchester, Mass., placed 140th in 27:18:30 for his first 100-mile finish. Meanwhile, 44-year-old Peter Guza of North Andover, Mass., finished 179th in 28:31:27. It was at least the fifth time Guza has completed a 100-mile race.

No New Englanders were among the 103 finishers of the 100K race. Jack Basler, 29, of Dallas, Texas, and Carina Segoviano, 34, of Lodi, Calif., were the top male and female runners at that distance in 9:56:35 and 13:13:03, respectively.

Whispering Pines

A New Englander finished on the podium at the 13th annual Whispering Pines 12-Hour Ultra on Saturday, Feb. 1, in Inverness, Fla. Christopher Oko had a strong day of running on the 5-mile loop trail that consisted of a mix of singletrack and doubletrack throughout. Of the 101 runners who took part in the event, Oko was one of 38 who completed at least six loops for 30 miles and an ultramarathon finish. In fact, Oko was one of five who completed at least 50 miles.

Oko, 21, of Woodbridge, Conn., was one of four who completed 10 loops of the course for 50 miles, placing fourth overall and third in the men’s field. Top female Jess Pendergrass, 37, of Tampa, Fla. matched Oko’s mileage and placed third overall. Kyle Sharow, 38, of Tallahassee, Fla., led all runners with 55 miles within the time limit.

Elephant Mountain

A pair of New England men turned in strong performances in their ultramarathon debuts at the 13th annual Elephant Mountain Trail Race on Saturday, Feb. 1, in Cave Creek, Ariz. Ted Fuell, 24, of Andover, N.H., and Jeff Siegler, 25, of Southbury, Conn., took on the 50K distance on the trails of the Tonto National Forest and Cave Creek Regional Park. Of the 70 runners in the race, Fuell placed ninth overall in 5:24:12 and Siegler finished 15th in 5:51:28. Isaiah Ford, 38, of Phoenix, Ariz., led all runners in a course-record 4:08:13. Avinoam Maier, 33, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was a distant second in 4:28:44. Leah Genth, 25, of Baltimore, Md., was 10th overall and the top female finisher in 5:25:12.

The event also included a 50-mile race, and 27-year-old Damon Chavez of Cedar City, Utah, and 31-year-old Taelor Smith of Thousand Oaks, Calif., went 1-2 overall and were the top male and female finishers in 7:52:30 and 9:19:51, respectively. No New Englanders were among the 43 finishers.

Forgotten Florida

Forgotten Florida has been an annual stepping stone for Tara Allen’s trail-running career, and her latest trip to the event marked her biggest step yet. Allen, 33, of Mount Desert, Maine, ran the event’s 8-mile race in 2023 and then returned in 2024 and completed the 50-miler. On Feb. 1-2, she made her third straight trip to the event in Christmas, Fla., and she earned her first 100-mile finish.

Allen was one of 91 starters of the 100-miler, which allowed 35 hours to complete the point-to-point journey. Of those who started, 67 ultimately finished. Allen placed 31st overall and fifth in the female field in 28:27:54. She was the lone New England resident among the finishers. Ryan Kunz, 42, of Tallahassee, Fla., and Beth Kelty, 38, of Portland, Ore., were the top male and female finishers in 16:34:58 and 22:45:03, respectively.

Two New Englanders were also among the 83 finishers of the event’s 50-mile race. Stephanie Solla, 33, of West Berlin, Vt., finished 47th in 13:37:15 while Jennifer Nappilanutter, 49, of Lunenburg, Mass., placed 68th in 14:46:12. For Nappilanutter, it marked a big step in her build-up to the Sedona Canyons 125-miler in May in Arizona. Eric Langdon, 37, of Millbrook, N.Y., and Whitney Dancaster, 36, of Punta Gorda, Fla., went 1-3 overall and were the top male and female finishers in 8:32:31 and 9:52:35.

963 Beulah Challenge

Justin Deflumeri earned his first ultramarathon finish of the year under dark skies of Wildwood, Mo., at the eighth annual 963 Beulah Challenge night trail race on Saturday, Feb., 1,in Wildwood, Mo. The event offered 9-hour, 6-hour and 3-hour races on the 4.3-mile Beulah Loop Trail at Greensfelder County Park. Runners amassed around 400 feet of climbing per loop and dodged rocks and roots along the way.

Twenty-five runners took part in the 9-hour race, including Deflumeri, 36, of Nashua, N.H., who finished 18 overall with 30.10 miles in 8:44:31. Nineteen runners completed at least 30 miles. Cody Eubanks, 41, of Jefferson City, Mo., led all runners with 43.0 miles in 8:24:42. Anthony Ryans, 23, of Troy, Mo., and Joe Balmer, 42, of St. Louis, Mo., matched Eubanks’ mileage but did so a little bit slower. Heidi Williams, 42, of St. Louis, Mo., was fourth overall and the top female finisher with 38.70 miles in 8:54:21.

No New England residents were among the participants in the 6- and 3-hour races.

*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.