Part I of this week’s roundup focused on results in the West; here in Part II we turn to the East, and what a weekend it was. Bubba’s Backyard Ultra in New Hampshire was the place to be in New England during the Oct. 3-5 weekend. There were two additional 50Ks in the region–the Little Duck 50K in Maine and the CT Donut Run 31.5-miler in Connecticut (results from both events were unavailable at the time of publication)–but Bubba’s was the only place where you could literally run for days on end. A few runners did, led by Lukas Janulaitis who endured 53 hours on a 3.5-mile loop course to win. He had plenty of company for most of those hours as the two best male and female performances in event history were tuned in. In addition to Bubba’s, we head to Pennsylvania where a New Englander earned a top-10 finish at the Black Forest Ultra.

Bubba’s Backyard Ultra

There was only one champion during the first five years of Bubba’s Backyard Ultra: Ed Clifford. Despite several mighty challenges, Clifford reigned supreme each time. In 2024, Clifford wasn’t in the field. That cleared the way for a new champion, Danny Mejia of Portland, Maine. Neither Clifford nor Mejia returned for the seventh annual event on Oct. 4-6 in Center Conway, N.H., meaning another new champion would be crowned. This year, the former champions would have had their hands full. Clifford’s record 157.5-mile performance in 2021 was eclipsed by three participants, and both the male and female course records fell.

The event used its traditional format with a 3.5-mile loop on forested singletrack trails, with some snowmobile trails, fields and logging roads sprinkled in, with around 250 feet of climbing per loop. Runners had one hour to complete the loop and return to the starting line to begin another on the top of the hour, every hour, or be eliminated. The routine replayed hour after hour until only one runner remained.

Ninety-nine runners started the race, but after 15 hours and 52.5 miles of running the field dwindled to 45. By the 24-hour mark, the field was whittled to 27 runners who each had 84 miles on their legs. Twenty-six runners reached the 101.5-mile mark after 29 hours, and that milestone marked the stopping point for nine of them. Runners gradually dropped as the next few hours passed. When August Myers, 29, of Granby, Quebec, stopped after 37 hours and 129.5 miles, just seven runners remained. Another six hours would pass before the field shrunk again. Four runners – Conor Brown, 24, of Manchester, N.H.; Erica Notini, 31, of Hillsborough, N.H.; Andrew Johnstone, 39, of Hinesburg, Vt.; and Michael Conley, 41, of Gorham, Maine – ended their runs after 43 hours and 150.5 miles. For Notini, it secured her the No. 2 spot all-time on the female record board. The only runner to go farther was Katie Melsky, who was one of the final three runners in the field.

Melsky, 27, of Cambridge, Mass., and New Hampshire residents Lukas Janulaitis, 24, of Gorham, and Aaron Copeland, 42, of Strafford, returned to the starting line side by side for the next five hours before Melsky was done. She wasn’t the last runner standing, but she was the new female record-holder with a 168-mile performance.

Janulaitis and Copeland continued, but after four more loops Copeland reached his end point, earning the assist with 182 miles over 52 hours. Janulaitis completed a 53rd and final loop and closed out his victory with a record 185.5 miles.

The win was a rewarding achievement for Janulaitis. He made his Bubba’s debut in 2023, finishing fourth overall with 115.5 miles, and then placed fifth in 2024 with a 129.5-mile effort. Copeland was in the field both years, too, placing ninth in 2023 with 105 miles, and third in 2024 with 136.5 miles. Melsky made her Bubba’s debut in 2024, finishing 21st overall and sixth among the female runners with 70 miles.

Black Forest Ultra

When Josh Rollins goes to Pennsylvania to run an ultramarathon, good things happen. That has been the story this year for Rollins, 49, of Barre, Vt. After completing the Eastern States 100-miler in Pennsylvania in 2023, he returned for another crack at the course in August 2025 and finished eighth overall. Following that successful effort, Rollins once again returned to the state to take part in the eighth annual Black Forest Ultra 100K on Sunday, Oct. 5, in North Bend, Pa.

Runners endured a midnight start and could have no crew or pacers to support them on their journey along the rugged Black Forest Trail through the mountains and forest. Of the 67 runners who took on the challenge, just 47 overcame the 13,400 feet of climbing and tough terrain to ultimately finish within the 19-hour time limit. Rollins was among the fastest, finishing eighth overall in 16:21:51.

Francis Daley, 37, of Jim Thorpe, Pa., and Emily Fisk, 37, of Bridgeport, Pa., finished 1-3 overall and were the first-place male and female finishers in 14:12:04 and 14:53:37, 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.