April came to a close with a pair of ultrarunning events in New England. On trail, runners took on the TARC Spring Classic in Massachusetts, which we will have covered in a separate article. On road, runners raced the historic Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug Ultras for the 52nd time. In this week’s roundup, we catch up on the action at Lake Waramaug, and then look beyond the region as New Englanders earned ultra finishes in Maryland, Georgia, Virginia and Utah.

Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug Ultras

As the home of the oldest 100K in the United States and a proud 52-year history of offering ultra distances – including 50-mile and 50K races – the Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug Ultras offer ultrarunners the opportunity to be a part of history just by showing up. The latest edition of the event took place on Saturday, April 26, in Kent, Conn., and runners once again raced the flat, paved course around Lake Waramaug for three distance offerings. Given that it is a place where world records and age group records have been set through the years, it is rare that a course record falls at Lake Waramaug because the bar has been set so high. No records fell this year, but several strong performances were delivered in each distance.

Twenty runners completed the 100K race within 13 1/2 hours, and the top spot was decided by just four minutes. Hiroshi Kawakatsu, 28, of Greenwich, Conn., earned the overall win and topped the male field in 7:28:14, followed closely by 28-year-old Michael DeGeorge of Albany, N.Y., in 7:32:23. Evan Titus, 27, of Norwalk, Conn., was a distant third in 8:32:45. Rachel Spurrier, 44, of West Hartford, Conn., was the first-place female in 10:01:06, followed by Miranda Gajda, 32, of East Chatham, N.Y., in 10:23:59. Jessie Makela, 41, of Stafford Springs, Conn., completed the podium in 12:39:19, one minute ahead of Anastasia Eleftheraidis, 47, of Peabody, Mass. (12:40:24).

Fifty-one runners finished the 50-miler, and another close battle played out at the front. Ultimately, 25-year-old Tyler Ravenelle of New York, N.Y., fended off 37-year-old Ryan Williams of Concord, Mass. for the win, with Ravenelle finishing in 6:39:07 and Williams in 6:49:39. Andrew Porter, 34, of Middlefield, Conn., was a close third in 6:51:54. Kelly Gillen, 43, of New York, N.Y., topped the female field in 8:10:02, followed 15 minutes later by 22-year-old Natalie Trapanick of Amherst, Mass., in 8:25:58. Morgan Nault, 23, of Manchester, N.H., was third in 8:47:51.

The 50K race had the largest field with 72 finishers, and 22-year-old Nicky Dupkin of Copiague, N.Y., dominated the field, winning in 3:44:18. Kyle Surprenant, 34, of Coventry, R.I., was second in 4:02:52, and Brendan Ciano, 26, of Montvale, N.J., was third in 4:06:06. Ciano fended off 23-year-old Justin Pollio of Hamden, Conn., who finished fourth in 4:08:52. In the female field, Raquel Brainard, 43, of Waterford, Conn., faced a tough challenge from Kristin Spirdione, 37, of North Stonington, Conn., but Brainard held on for the win in 4:27:32. Spirdione followed less than four minutes later in 4:31:03. Suzanne Hurst, 54, of Baltimore, Md., completed the podium in 4:31:03.

C&O Canal 100

Lily Weinstein Terry delivered a dynamite 100-mile debut performance at the C&O Canal 100 on April 25-26 in Knoxville, Md. The 13th edition of the event used its traditional flat-to-rolling course along the river, consisting of one 40-mile loop and two 30-mile loops that start and finish at Camp Manidokan. For Weinstein Terry, 20, of Norwich, Vt., it was the opportunity to accomplish a big personal milestone after winning the Virgil Crest 50K last September and finishing second in March at the Squatchapple 50-miler in New Jersey. Of the 167 runners who finished within the 30-hour time limit, Weinstein Terry placed 20th overall and secured a spot on the female podium by finishing second in 19:40:25. Brittney Yuronich, 38, of Elyria, Ohio, was the female champion and 12th overall in 19:13:12.

Weinstein Terry was the third New Englander to finish. Nick Lee, 41, of Falmouth, Mass., placed 15th in 19:17:08. He is building up to the Jigger Johnson 100-miler in August in New Hampshire, followed by the Mammoth 200 in California in October. Michael Obara, 49, of North Kingstown, R.I., placed 18th in 19:31:44. For Obara, it was at least his 13th 100-mile finish and second-fastest ever.

The top 72 finishers all completed the course in less than 24 hours, led by overall champion Yurii Bondarchuk, 36, of West New York, N.J., in 15:58:57. Joining Weinstein Terry, Lee and Obara as sub-24-hour finishers were Carey Patrick Pertz, 45, of Waterville, Maine (34th, 20:54:37); Drew Bernhisel, 34, of East Haven, Conn. (53rd, 23:02:54); and Jennifer Whynot, 43, of Windham, Maine (58th, 23:13:54). Whynot’s effort cracked the female top 10, earning her eighth place and a personal best time for the distance.

Additionally, C&O Canal veterans Karen Ringheiser, 62, and Dima Feinhaus, 63, both of Waban, Mass., ran and completed the race together, placing 127th and 128th in 27:55:24 and 27:55:28, respectively. The couple previously finished the race in 2021 and 2024. Both completed the Boston Marathon five days prior.

Bronze Dragonfly

A pair of Vermont residents earned ultramarathon finishes – and one placed on the podium – at the fifth annual Bronze Dragonfly time-based ultras on April 25-26 in Savannah, Ga. The event offered 30-hour, 24-hour, 12-hour day and night, and 6-hour races on a 1.4-mile USATF-certified loop course. Both New Englanders were among the 35 runners who ran the 30-hour race.

Brandon Manzo, 54, of Milton, Vt., is no stranger to time-based events. He has completed 100 miles twice in the 30-hour race at the Hamsterwheel in New Hampshire in addition to completing the Pine Creek Challenge 100-miler in Pennsylvania. Manzo completed a personal-best 101.16 miles at Bronze Dragonfly, finishing fourth overall and third in the male field. Bryan Henderson, 64, of Albany, Ga., topped the male field and placed second overall with 108.18 miles, while female champion Loan Vo, 44, of Brandon, Fla., earned the overall victory by a large margin with 126.45 miles. Vo set an overall course record with her performance.

Manzo was joined among the finishers by Wendy Manzo, 58, also of Milton, Vt. She completed 30.91 miles.

Troublesome Hollow 50K

A pair of New England women ran together and finished together at the fourth annual Troublesome Hollow 50K on Saturday, April 25, in Bristol, Va. Sarah Lathum, 42, of Newbury, Mass., and Ali Lopez, 64, of Shelburne, Vt., ran in the top half of the field and placed 47th and 48th overall, just seconds apart, with Lathum finishing in 6:26:46 and Lopez a few steps behind in 6:26:50. Lathum is building up to the Infinitus 100-miler in Vermont in May, followed by the Javelina Jundred 100-miler in Arizona in October. Lopez is preparing for the Rim to River 100-miler in October in West Virginia.

Chris Weissmann, 35, of Charlotte, N.C., led the field of 122 finishers and set a new male course record in 3:40:18. Kevin Lane, 41, of Marshall, N.C., was second in 3:46:33. Top female Audrey Carter, 35, of Whitesburg, Tenn., finished fourth overall in 4:26:52.

Bonneville Backyard Ultra

Though he wasn’t the last runner standing, Brendan Williams still had a big weekend of running at the fourth annual Bonneville Backyard Ultra on April 25-26 in Provo, Utah. Williams, 22, of Boston, Mass., was the lone New Englander at the event, which used the typical backyard ultra format with runners completing a 4.17-mile loop course once per hour, every hour, until only one runner remained. In this case, it was an out-and-back course.

Of the 122 runners who took part in the event, 45 went beyond 12 hours and 50 miles. Williams was among them. In his ultrarunning debut, the lone New England resident in the field tied for 22nd with 62.5 miles. Eight runners lasted for at least 24 hours and 100 miles, and 47-year-old Casey Robles of Orem, Utah, was the last runner standing after 30 hours of competing with 125.0 miles.

*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.