Several ultrarunners left frigid New England in search of major miles in warmer climates during the Jan. 17-18 weekend. They ran hard and secured hard-earned early-season ultra finishes in Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Arizona. Lila Gaudrault sizzled with a second-place finish at the Long Haul 100, and Yong-Son Basta was victorious at the St. Croix Scenic 50K, highlighting this edition of the roundup.

Long Haul 100

After a challenging year where she bounced back from injury and moved from Maine to Vermont, Lila Gaudrault kicked off the new year in fine fashion at the Long Haul 100 on Jan. 17-18 in Lakeland, Fla. Gaudrault, 23, parlayed her winter training in the cold of Williston, Vt., into a speedy performance on the trails of Florida’s Colt Creek State Park. Gaudrault ripped through six 16.7-mile loops and was among the fastest runners in the field throughout the weekend. By the time she was done, Gaudrault had finished ninth overall and second in the female field in 19:05:53. Her effort was the sixth-fastest by a female in course history. Nicole Coccia, 35, of Riverview, Fla., placed second overall and topped the female field in 16:32:07, smashing the female course record by 42 minutes. Trev Vanknotsenburg, 41, of Tampa, Fla., was the only runner to go faster, winning the race outright in 16:10:38.

Gaudrault’s big performance highlighted a solid weekend for a New England contingent at one of the first 100-mile opportunities of the new year. Rick Horton, 53, of Winchester, N.H., placed 37th overall in 23:20:15, while 51-year-old Annette Florczak of Roslindale, Mass., finished 101st overall in 27:30:43. For Florczak, the 100-miler was just the start to a big year that will include the Sedona Canyons 125 in May and the Bigfoot 200 in August. Additionally, 58-year-old Brian Tjersland of Dartmouth, Mass., and 60-year-old Mike Bates, a former Massachusetts resident who recently moved to Englewood, Fla., ran together and finished together in 29:49:20 and 29:40:21, respectively, for 160th and 161st place.

Of the 286 runners who started the race, 185 finished within the 32-hour time limit.

St. Croix Scenic 50K

A longtime marathon runner, Yong-Son Basta made her ultramarathon debut at the 13th edition of the St. Croix Scenic 50K on Saturday, Jan. 18, in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Basta shined in her transition to the longer distance as the 61-year-old resident of New Canaan, Conn., finished fourth overall and second in the female field in a speedy 4:50:40. Basta’s time was the fourth-fastest by a female in event history, and only one female runner has ever gone faster. Top female and third overall finisher Bridget Klein, 42, of the Virgin Islands, won the race for the third year in a row in 4:42:08, breaking her own course record of 4:43:47 from her 2025 win. Her winning effort of 4:47:29 from 2024 is the third-fastest time by a female in course history.

Maxwell Hoffman, 24, of Buffalo, N.Y., led the field of 62 finishers and set a new male course record of 4:14:39.

Three other New England residents joined Basta among the finishers. Bryan Gould, 54, and Will Kiesman, 57, both of Wayland, Mass., ran together and finished in 8:01:56 and 8:01:58, respectively, while 58-year-old Mike Ribeiro of Holyoke, Mass., finished in 9:02:04.

Coldwater Rumble

It was a homecoming of sorts for Gretchen Lowery at the 16th annual Coldwater Rumble Trail Races on Jan. 17-18 in Goodyear, Ariz. Lowery, 56, moved from Fountain Hills, Ariz., to Norton, Mass., in early 2025 but ran several trail races in Arizona in the years prior to her move – including Coldwater Rumble twice. In 2022, she ran the event’s 20-mile race before returning in 2024 and finishing the 60K.

This year, Lowery returned to Estrella Mountain Regional Park and once again ran the 60K and was among the 82 finishers, completing the course in 11:12:37. She was one of two New England residents in the field, with 36-year-old Daniel Nuzzo-Mueller of Medford, Mass., finishing ninth overall in his ultrarunning debut in 6:36:52. Isaiah Ford, 39, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Nicole Hanson, 33, of Flagstaff, Ariz., topped the male and female 60K fields in 4:41:41 and 5:01:51, respectively.

They weren’t the lone New England residents to earn finishes at Coldwater Rumble this year. 34-year-old Derek Kachadurian of Truro, Mass., placed eighth out of 49 finishers in the 100K race in 12:35:50. Tim Vail, 25, of Ramona, Calif., and Brittany Poor, 37, of Oceanside, Calif., led the male and female fields in 8:57:14 and 12:00:06, respectively. For Kachadurian, the race was part of his buildup to the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 in Nevada in July.

The 100-mile distance was the event’s featured race. A few New England residents started the race, but none were among the 90 finishers of the 100-mile race, which was won outright by 34-year-old Rachel Entrekin of Conifer, Colo., in a female course-record time of 16:19:17.

*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.