MassUltra Roundup: Antelope Island Buffalo Run, Vernal Equinox, Hone Quarry, and Georgia Death Race

The March 28-30 weekend was on the lighter side for New Englanders following a massive slate of events the week before, but it was still busy enough to entail a two-roundup week. We’ll close out in the Northeast, with ultras in Connecticut and New York, but here in Part I we turn to the results from the rest of the country, from Utah to Ohio, Virginia and Georgia.

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Patient Zhou Outlasts the Field for Victory at To Hale and Back

WESTWOOD, Mass. – Trail-runners in Massachusetts just endured the coldest winter of the past decade in the Commonwealth, but they were welcomed into spring with an absolutely delightful day in the woods at the eighth running of the Trail Animals Running Club’s To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, March 22, at Hale Reservation.

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MassUltra Roundup: Badwater Cape Fear, Camp Croft, Swamp Fox, Mount Mitchell, the Pistol, and Diamondback

The red-hot March 21-23 weekend saw New Englanders earn ultramarathon finishes at more than a dozen races beyond the region, and the volume of results merited a three-part roundup to include it all. Part I rounded up results from out West and Part II recapped results from the Northeast. We close it out strong here in Part III with outcomes from the Southeast, including a pair of victories for runners from the region. Rhode Island’s Cole Crosby delivered a dazzling come-from-behind win in the 51.4-mile Badwater Cape Fear in North Carolina, and Massachusetts resident Daniel McCarthy earned a 50K victory at the Camp Croft Ultras in South Carolina. Those stellar performances lead off this edition of the roundup.

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MassUltra Roundup: Dogwood, Bullshit Backyard, Terrapin Mountain, and HAT Run

The massive March 21-23 weekend of ultramarathon racing was so busy for New Englanders that this week’s roundup merits not one, not two … but three parts to capture it all. Part I focused on results from out West. Part III will recap results from the Southeast, but here in Part II we turn to the Northeast, with results from ultras in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and Connecticut’s Blake Hayden gets top billing for his 12-hour victory at the Dogwood Ultra.

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MassUltra Roundup: Crown King Scramble, Big Alta, and Behind the Rocks

The Trail Animals Running Club’s TARC To Hale and Back 6-Hour was New England’s biggest ultrarunning event during the March 21-23 weekend, but it was far from the only place New Englanders threw down ultramarathon efforts. The busiest weekend of racing so far in 2025 saw runners from the region travel to at least a dozen other events across the country – with a few returning home with hard-earned victories. Here in Part I of this week’s roundup we catch up on ultra results from the West, and nobody had a bigger performance than Connecticut’s Eric Blake who took on Arizona trails and emerged victorious.

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Results: TARC To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra

The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the eighth running of the TARC To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners took part in a 3.5-mile single-loop race, as well as a 6-hour race where they completed the same loop as many times as they wanted.

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Photos: To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra

The Trail Animals Running Club played host to the eighth edition of the To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra and 3.5-mile trail race on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at Hale Reservation in Westwood, Mass. Runners in the ultra had six hours to complete as many laps of the 3.5-mile course as they wanted. Runners enjoyed temperatures that ranged from 35 degrees at the start to 60 at the finish, with sunny skies and mostly dry trails. The following are a small sample of photos taken by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen. A full gallery of 212 photos can be viewed on the MassUltra Flickr page.

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MassUltra Roundup: F.I.T. Rock, Rabid Raccoon, Bel Monte, Chuckanut, and Get Lucky

Rhode Island only plays host to a handful of ultramarathons throughout the year, but it was the only location in New England with a race during the March 14-16 weekend. The F.I.T. Rock 12-hour saw Takai Takafumi of Cambridge, Mass., earn the victory with a 60-mile outing on a 5-mile loop course. Beyond Rhode Island, New Englanders scattered to other parts of the country to tackle the trails and earn ultra finishes in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and Ohio. We have them all covered in this edition of the roundup.

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MassUltra Roundup: Mesquite Canyon, Marin Ultra Challenge, Siuslaw Dunes, and Prickly Pear

Part I of the March 7-9 weekend focused on New Englanders’ efforts at ultramarathons on the East Coast, with a heavy focus on New Jersey events. Here in Part II we journey West to Arizona, California, Oregon and Texas where runners took on diverse and challenging terrain and turned in some stellar performances. No New Englander had a bigger weekend than Eric LiPuma. The Vermonter toppled a long-standing course record at the Mesquite Canyon 50K while chasing world-class runner Jim Walmsley. Though Walmsley took the win, LiPuma delivered a dandy of a performance and leads off this edition of the roundup.

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MassUltra Roundup: Squatchapple, Lenape, Livingston Oval, and Save the Daylight

The March 7-9 weekend represented not just a break from frigid conditions with some early signs of spring in New England, but also the beginning of the busier part of the 2025 ultrarunning season. Though the ultra scene in New England was quiet – the TARC To Hale and Back 6-Hour Ultra still loomed two weeks away – runners from the region scattered to starting lines across the country. In fact, so many did so that the weekend merited the first two-part roundup of the year. Here in Part I we stay in the East, where several New Englanders traveled to nearby New Jersey for a trio of races, and then we go to Florida where two runners from the region tackled a time-based event.

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