Easter weekend means two things in the New England ultrarunning world: Traprock and “Don’t Run Boston.” Both iconic events typically fall on the same weekend, and occasionally the same day, offering runners a pair of burly challenges on technical trails to kick their seasons into high gear. DRB will have its own separate recap, but the Traprock 50K leads off the April 18-20 weekend edition of the roundup. Additionally, we catch up on results from a few New Englanders who headed west to ultras in California, Colorado and Arizona.

Traprock 50K

Temperatures in the 80s meant the Traprock 50K had one real winner: the course record boards. Records weren’t threatened thanks to a scorcher of a day at the 15th edition of the Connecticut classic ultra on Saturday, April 19, in Bloomfield, Conn.

Runners still had to overcome three nearly 11-mile loops of technical singletrack and doubletrack trails at Pennwood State Park with more than 6,200 feet of climbing. Even the most well-trained runners suffered in the heat, and the attrition rate was high. Of the 103 runners who started the race, just 57 ultimately finished.

Traprock veteran James Boeding, 43, of West Hartford, Conn., improved upon his second-place finish a year ago by earning the victory this time. As a true indication of the impact of the heat, Boeding’s winning time of 5:18:11 was about 35 minutes slower than his second-place time of 4:43:42 from 2024. Another Traprock veteran, 43-year-old Lee Davis of Hamden, Conn., finished second in 5:49:53. Davis was sixth in 2024 in 5:32:16 and third in 2023 in 5:28:19. Four Traprock newcomers rounded out the top six, with 35-year-old Stephen Krohley of Beacon Falls, Conn., placing third in 5:54:47; 28-year-old Benjamin Niebla of Manchester, N.H., taking fourth in 5:59:54; 28-year-old James Mann of New York, N.Y., finishing fifth in 6:02:23; and 40-year-old Fred Willis of Cheshire, Conn., following in 6:20:33.

In the female field, 22-year-old Lila Gaudrault of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, was victorious in her Traprock debut, finishing in 6:49:33 for 11th place overall. Gaudrault led a slate of newcomers to the event who filled the female top five. Erica Notini, 31, of Hillsborough, N.H., was second in 7:03:35, just a few weeks removed from her runner-up finish at the Sleeping Giant 50K. In third place, 17-year-old Grayson Neuman of New Haven, Conn., finished in 7:21:28. Neuman also finished third behind Notini at Sleeping Giant. Makena Bement, 25, of Ledyard, Conn., was fourth in 7:39:18, followed by 33-year-old Sydney Ruby of Brooklyn, N.Y., in 7:48:38.

Another 156 runners finished the event’s single-loop 17K race, with 39-year-old Ryan MIller of Manchester, Conn., topping the male field in 1:31:23 and 31-year-old Inma Zanoguera of Brooklyn, N.Y., leading the female field in 1:37:30, just 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Jenna Gigliotti, 32, of Amherst, Mass.

Mendocino Coast 50K

Two years ago, Brendan Hoehn headed to Mendocino, Calif., and ran his first ultramarathon at the Mendocino Coast 50K. On Saturday, April 19, Hoehn returned to the race for his second ultra at the ninth edition of the event and showed what a difference a few years can make.

Hoehn, 31, of North Kingstown, R.I., finished the 2023 event in 9:13:01. This time, he was ready for the challenging climbs at Big River State Park, and he made steady progress as he ran through the redwood forests and along the bluffs above the Pacific Ocean. By the time he was done, Hoehn was in 22nd place overall in 5:54:37 – an improvement of well more than 3 hours. He was one of two New Englanders among the finishers. Roberta Dionne, 62, of Portland, Maine, finished in 10:01:33.

Of the 138 finishers within 10 1/2 hours, Daniel Lingenfelter, 37, of Healdsburg, Calif., led the way in 4:16:45. Top female Katie Hynes, 42, of San Francisco, Calif., finished eighth in 5:03:42.

Rattler Trail Race

Molly Fraher soaked up plenty of scenic views during the Rattler Trail Race 50K on Saturday, April 19, in Colorado Springs, Colo. The 11th annual event took place at Palmer Park and took runners on a two-loop course with views of iconic Pikes Peak along the way. Fraher and her fellow runners endured altitude – the entire course is above 6,300 feet – and amassed 3,800 feet of climbing. Fraher, 37, of Goshen, Conn., finished in the middle of the field, placing 24th out of 47 runners and fourth in the female field in 7:06:50. Jacob Cordell, 30, of Golden, Colo., led all runners in 4:46:02 while top female Anita Ortiz, 60, of Eagle, Colo., finished ninth in 5:52:24.

The “VUE”

Aravaipa Running played host to the fourth edition of the Vortex Ultra Experience – or “VUE” – and second offering with 50-mile and 34-mile ultras on Saturday, April 19, in Sedona, Ariz. Runners took on challenging rails in the Red Rocks of Sedona area, and a pair of New Englanders joined in on the ultra action.

Neither took part in the 50-miler, which had 28 finishers within 13 hours and saw 46-year-old Yassine Diboun of Portland, Ore., set an overall course record in 7:59:52. The 34-miler had 81 finishers within 12 1/2 hours, including both New England men. Ted Fuell, 24, of Andover, N.H., finished 14th overall and 10th in the male field in 7:18:42, while 33-year-old Christopher Stackpole of Cumberland, R.I., finished 28th overall in 8:10:52. It was Fuell’s second ultramarathon finish and Stackpole’s first. Eric Wise, 37, of Flagstaff, Ariz., and Christy Aish, 47, of Conifer, Colo., went 1-3 overall and set new male and female course records in 5:54:18 and 5:55:48, respectively.

*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.