While most of the New England running community eyed the upcoming Boston Marathon, some hearty ultrarunners from the region had their hearts set on running technical trails during the April 17-19 weekend. Some tackled the 30th edition of the Trail Animals Running Club’s “Don’t Run Boston” 50K and 50-Mile races on Sunday, April 19, at the Blue Hills Reservation. We will have that covered in a separate recap. But we lead off this week’s edition of the roundup with another tough New England race – the Traprock 50K in Connecticut, which saw prior champions reign again, on Saturday, April 18. Then we catch up on how New Englanders fared beyond the region as we catch up on results from New York, Pennsylvania, Arizona, California, and Missouri.

Traprock 50K

A pair of prior champions returned to the top of the podium at the 16th edition of the Traprock 50K on Saturday, April 18, in Bloomfield, Conn. Runners once again took on a three-loop course with a mix of doubletrack and technical singletrack on the Metacomet Trail at Penwood State Park. Matt Pacheco and Kehr Davis were victorious in their first trips back to Traprock since winning in 2023.

Pacheco, 41, of South Hadley, Mass., had a dominant day and earned the overall win in 4:45:55. Benjamin Niebla, 29, of Manchester, N.H., was a distant second in 5:22:50, improving upon his fourth-place finish in 2025. He held off former champion Brian Rusiecki, 47, of South Deerfield, Mass., by about 4 1/2 minutes. Rusiecki, who won in 2017 and 2018, finished third in 5:27:17.

Topping the female field was prior champion Kehr Davis, 49, of Pittsfield, Mass., who finished fourth overall in 5:41:56. Davis was joined on the female podium by 29-year-old Maddie Kaplan of Canton, Mass., and 18-year-old Grayson Neuman of New Haven, Conn. Kaplan finished in 6:40:14 and Neuman followed in 6:51:38. Newman was also third in 2025.

Eighty-one runners finished the race within 10 hours.

English’s Ridge Rumble 50K

A pair of New England men earned top-five finishes at the ninth annual English’s Ridge Rumble 50K on Saturday, April 18, in Fayetteville, N.Y. Racing on the trails of Green Lakes State Park, Franck Bitard and Spencer Evans-Cole went 3-4 in the field of 52 finishers within eight hours. Fitard, 35, of Greenwich, Conn., placed third overall in 4:22:03, followed by Evans-Cole, 21, of Chelmsford, Mass., in 4:33:00. Brian Gorzka, 45, of Warners, N.Y., led all runners in 4:17:15, finishing 45 seconds ahead of 28-year-old Ryan Lutrzykowski of Rochester, N.Y. Denise Calcagnino, 58, of North Syracuse, N.Y., topped the female field in 5:33:40.

Chris Heneghan joined Bitard and Evans-Cole in representing New England at the finish line. Heneghan, 43, of West Hartford, Conn., finished 37th in 6:28:43.

Shore2Shore 50K

Two years after winning the Shore2Shore 50K, Sarah Praisner returned and won it again. Praisner, 24, of Colchester, Conn., topped the female field at the eighth annual event on Saturday, April 18, in East Islip, N.Y. The race took runners on a point-to-point journey on the Long Island Greenbelt Trail. Praisner had a strong day of running and finished fifth overall while winning the female race comfortably in 4:30:52. Ryan Clifford, 29, of Wesbury, N.Y., was the overall winner and set a new course record in 3:25;28. Clifford broke his own course record which he set during his 2023 victory.

Praisner was the top New Englander in the field of 152 finishers. Stephen Walsh, 40, of West Greenwich, R.I., placed 41st in 5:32:06.

Hyner View Trail Challenge 

Ben Quatromoni is once again the champion of the Hyner View Trail Challenge. Quatromoni, 38, of Newport, R.I., won the event in 2024 in 4:13:01. After a year away, he returned on Saturday, April 18, in Hyner, Pa., and won the 17th edition of the 50K race in 4:24:29. Quatromoni topped his closest competitor by four minutes after overcoming 6,500 feet of climbing at Hyner View State Park. Deanna Doane, 28, of Jacksonville Beach, Fla., finished seventh overall and set a new female course record in 4:54:46.

Quatromoni was one of six New Englanders who were among the 391 finishers within 9 1/2 hours. Edward Shibley, 47, of West Springfield, Mass., placed 104th in 6:29:44. Additionally, Thomas Nuavo, 63, of Burlington, Vt., finished in 8:02:12; Scott Belisle, 48, of Wilton, Conn., finished in 8:32:53; Gurvinder Bali, 42, of Laconia, N.H., finished in 9:03:49; and Cherie Bilbie, 51, of Ellington, Conn., finished in 9:20:14.

Whiskey Basin Trail Runs

Though he makes his home in Arizona now, Massachusetts native Scott Traer still reps the region with big performances. The 45-year-old Woburn native, now living in Prescott, added another victory to his impressive ultrarunning resume at the 11th edition of the Whiskey Basin Trail Runs 91K and 60K ultras on Saturday, April 18, on his local trails in Prescott, Ariz.

The event featured a point-to-point course on the Prescott Circle Trail. No New Englanders were among the 93 finishers of the 91K race, but Traer represented in the 60K and rolled to victory in 4:40:38. His time was the third-fastest in course history and five minutes shy of his winning effort in 2024. Rachel Entrekin, 34 of Conifer, Colo., topped the female field and placed second overall out of 91 finishers in 5:17:51.

The “VUE”

Morgan Fine is building up to the Tahoe 200 later this year, and he turned in a strong 50-mile performance as part of his preparation when he finished the fourth annual Vortex Ultra Experience – or VUE – on Saturday, April 18, in Sedona, Ariz. The race took place on the trails of the Red Rocks of Sedona, and it also included a 34-mile ultra option.

Fine, 53, of Norwalk, Conn., was one of 37 runners who finished the 50-miler, and he placed seventh overall in 8:53:06. Alexander Belotz, 37, of Phoenix, Ariz., and Kaydi Bolos, 33, of St. George, Utah, led the male and female fields in 8:05:21 and 9:58:56, respectively.

Another 87 runners completed the 34-mile race, including 28-year-old Katherine Bassett of Boston, Mass., who had a solid ultra debut. Bassett finished 15th overall and fourth in the female field in 7:23:07. Beth Ulibarri, 54, of Albuquerque, N.M., was the overall winner and top female in 5:22:37. Top male finisher Ben Garcia, 22, of Vail, Colo., finished second in 5:31:49. Bassett was one of five New Englanders among the 34-mile finishers. Jim Soukup, 64, and Kathleen Soukup, 54, both of Auburn, N.H., placed 36th and 46th in 8:30:32 and 8:41:28, respectively. Marziah Hashimi, 38, of Cambridge, Mass., finished 55th in 9:16:27; and Maria Tricarico, 31, of Lebanon, N.H., finished 72nd in 10:05:43.

Leona Divide

A pair of Connecticut ultrarunners earned finishes at the Leona Drivide Ultras on April 18-19 in Lake Hughes, Calif. The 34th edition of the event offered 100-mile, 100K, 50-mile and 50K ultras. No New England residents were among the finishers of the 100-mile and 100K races, but one each finished the latter two distances.

In the 50-mile race, 42-year-old Caitlin Rossi, of Torrington, Conn., placed 39th out of 82 finishers in 14:05:46. Nick Stice, 24, of San Luis Obispo, Calif., and Maria Chinita, 36, of Los Angeles, Calif., led the male and female fields in 8:04:38 and 10:59:41, respectively.

Another 97 runners completed the 50K race, and 63-year-old Robert Tagliaferi of New Haven, Conn., finished 76th in 8:56:55. Madeline Ogle, 29, of Morro Bay, Calif., led all runners in 4:11:24 while top male Mason Osgood, 31, of Joshua Tree, Calif., was a close second in 4:15:41.

24-Hour Lion’s Roar

Austin Taylor earned his first ultramarathon finish at the 24-hour Lion’s Roar time-based ultras on April 17-18 in Columbia, Mo. Taylor, 58, of Portland, Maine, took part in the event’s 12-hour race and completed 40 miles, placing 11th out of 22 participants. Oksana Loginova, 52, of Columbia, Mo., led all runners with 65 miles while top male Michael Mader, 26, of Independence, Mo., finished second overall with 62.5 miles. The event also offered 24- and 6-hour ultras, though no New England residents took part in those races. All races took place on a 2.5-mile cross country loop course.

*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.