Big miles and massive performances were aplenty on the trails of New England during the July 11-13 weekend. A number of runners surpassed the 200-mile mark and various course records fell at the Notchview Ultra in Windsor, Mass., which will be featured in a separate story. Additionally, records were smashed at both the Spaulding Woods 50K in New Hampshire and the Back Cove Backyard Ultra in Maine, both of which are featured in this edition of the roundup. One more regional race also took place last weekend, but results from the 7-11 Slurpee Day Ultra 60K in Connecticut were unavailable at the time of publication.

Spaulding Woods 50K

Course records fell at the second annual Spaulding Woods 50K on Saturday, July 12, in Northfield, N.H. The “heavy” 50K course required runners to complete six laps of a 5.6-mile loop course with plenty of rocks and roots, amassing around 34 miles and 4,400 feet of climbing.

Jason Griffiths left the race from wire to wire. The 44-year-old from Plymouth, N.H., surged to an 11-minute lead by the end of the first loop and never looked back, knocking 55 minutes off the course record with his winning performance in 5:07:28. Benjamin Moser, 35, of Greenfield, N.H., was a distant second in 6:21:05, and 36-year-old Ramsey Kudairi of Wenham, Mass., rounded out the male podium in 6:48:08. Daniel Gray, 37, of Hooksett, N.H., was the final sub-7-hour finisher, placing fourth in 6:57:28.

In the female field, six runners broke the previous course record with 36-year-old Nicole Gray of Hooksett, N.H., earning the victory in 7:35:55, followed by 30-year-old Emma Dixon of Boston, Mass., in 7:56:15. Amy Martel, 41, of New Ipswich, N.H., rounded out the female podium in 8:14:30, followed by Kate Reardon, 40, of Bethlehem, N.H. (8:29:54); Shelly Audette, 31, of Newport, Vt. (8:44:26); and Mykayla Herges, 31, of East Sandwich, Mass. (8:53:25).

Of the 52 runners who started the race, just 29 completed all six loops within 10 hours.

Back Cove Backyard Ultra

Year four of the Back Cove Backyard Ultra saw the biggest miles and most intense competition yet on July 12-13 in Portland, Maine. Defending champion Jason Bigona was back following a winning 112.509-mile effort in 2024 that ranked second all-time only to Jason Geroux’s course record of 116.67 miles from 2023. Several other New England stalwarts also joined the field, including backyard expert Ed Clifford.

Runners gathered on Saturday morning for the first hour and first lap of the 4.167-mile course, which consisted of a loop of the approximately 3.5-mile flat, gravel Back Cove Trail, followed by a 0.6-mile run on the Bayside Trail to complete the lap. Runners had exactly one hour to finish and return to the starting line or be eliminated.

The field steadily whittled throughout the day, evening and into the night. By the next morning, five runners stepped to the line for the 24th yard. A few hours later, Bigona, Clifford, Elliot Chisholm and Matt Dibb completed the 27th hour, but 112.5 miles marked the stopping point for Dibb, 44, of Scituate, Mass. Two hours later, Chisholm, 17, of Salem, N.H., withdrew from the race after 120 miles of running, leaving Bigona and Clifford to do battle.

For seven more hours, Bigona, 48, of Walpole, Maine, and Clifford, 59, of Raymond, N.H., executed their own strategies and kept going, eclipsing the course record and then writing a new one with each lap. Finally, after 36 hours and 150 miles of running, Bigona was done. Clifford stepped to the line for the 37th hour, completed his loop and secured the victory as the last runner standing with 154.16 miles on his tired legs.

*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.