A busy October of ultrarunning continued during the Oct. 9-11 weekend with five ultras in New England and runners from the region traveling to at least 15 more across the country, including the Moab 240 in Utah which was canceled partway through as heavy rains and dangerous course conditions made parts of the course impassable. We will highlight both the Midstate Massive Ultra Trail and the Village Ultra from Massachusetts in separate recaps, but here in the roundup we have as much covered as possible from the other events. That starts with the inaugural Downeast Trail Festival in Maine, followed by the always tough Devil’s Den Ultra in Vermont.
Downeast Trail Festival
The inaugural Downeast Trail Festival took place on Saturday, Oct. 10, in Sullivan, Maine, offering runners the opportunity to take on a 52K ultra, as well as 17K, 12K and 6K sub-ultra distances on rolling hills and flowy singletrack trails on the outskirts of Acadia National Park. The event started and finished at the Charles M. Sumner Learning Campus and took runners on a journey through the Baker Hill Preserve and the Long Ledges Preserve. The 52K included three laps of the 17K loop course and around 3,000 feet total of climbing.
Five runners completed the 52K, with 47-year-old Gordon Collins of Poland, Maine, leading the way in 6:35:11. Top female Llewelyn Engel, 37, of Washington, D.C., was second overall in 7:43:25, and female runner-up Isabella Weidner of Stockton Springs, Maine, was third in 8:30:08. Nonbinary winner McGhee Steiner, 23, of Bar Harbor, Maine, was next to finish in 10:09:28, followed by male runner-up Chris Manwaring, 30, of Wells, Maine, in 10:13:12.
Thirty-four runners completed the 17K race. Wesley York, 26, of Bar Harbor, Maine, topped the male field in 1:33:10; 26-year-old Claire Pajka of Ellsworth, Maine, was the top female in 1:55:05; and 28-year-old Zoe Mattingly of Southwest Harbor, Maine, was the top nonbinary finisher in 2:27:01. Another 14 runners completed the 12K race and three finished the 6K.
Devil’s Den Ultra
It was a record-setting weekend at the fifth annual Devil’s Den Ultra on Oct. 10-11 in Bradford, Vt. The tough event tested runners with a 10K loop course on Wright’s Mountain that included a complex mix of easy-running trail, rocky and rooty highly technical terrain, and steep climbing and descending. Some runners took on the loop for 30 hours, while others opted for 12 hours, and some just a single lap.
Thirty runners earned ultramarathon finishes in the 30-hour race for completing at least 32 miles on the challenging course. Twenty-one of them completed at least 51.2 miles, and the top 14 amassed at least 100K in distance for going 64 miles. The top two surpassed the 100-mile mark, with 37-year-old Evan Marsh of Bradford, Vt., setting a new course record with 108.8 miles. Runner-up Austin Wendell, 27, also of Bradford, tied the previous course record with a 102.4-mile effort. Top female Taylor Verville, 36, of Tiverton, R.I., finished third overall with 89.4 miles, matching her own course standard from 2025. Female runner-up Andrea Mucchietto, 33, of Cambridge, Mass., was fourth overall with 76.8 miles, a distance matched by third-place male Brian Poirier, 32, of Vershire, Vt. Jillian Saunders, 19, of Bantam, Conn., completed the female podium with 64 miles in her ultra debut.
Twelve runners competed in the 12-hour race, and 32-year-old Miranda Gajda of East Chatham, N.Y., led the way with 44.8 miles, tying the female course record. Top male finishers Joe Spinazola, 33, of East Chatham, and 43-year-old Scott Holmes of Lancaster, N.H., also finished 44.8 miles, which was tied for the second-best effort by a male in event history. Only 2024 champion Andrew Macgibbon (57.6 miles) has gone farther.
In the single-lap race, 12 runners finished and 39-year-old Nicholas Burger of Syracuse, N.Y., became the first in event history to do so in less than an hour. Burger set a new course record in 58:36, winning by nearly 23 minutes. Female champion Dominique Danco, 31, of Burlington, Vt., finished in 1:53:12.
Green Monster Trail Challenge
Sarah Swan secured a podium finish in her ultramarathon debut. Swan, 31, of Portland, Maine, took part in the 50K race at the 15th annual Green Monster Trail Challenge on Sunday, Oct. 11, in Wellsboro, Pa., and encountered a course with 7,800 feet of climbing on the trails of the Tioga State Forest. She was up to the challenge. Sixty-two runners finished the race, and Swan was among the fastest, placing 10th overall and second in the female field for a place on the podium. Kristi Wiley, 43, of Lumberville, Pa., was sixth overall and first in the female field in 6:52:16. Swan followed in 7:00:07. Tyler Billet, 22, of York, Pa., topped the male field in 5:37:22.
Yeti 100
Brian Connelly had a sizzling 100-mile debut. The 38-year-old from Boston, Mass., cranked out triple-digit mileage in 16:54:16 at the 12th annual Yeti 100-Mile Endurance Run on Oct. 9-10 in Abingdon, Va. The race took place on the flat fast Virginia Creeper Trail, a historic rail trail. Connelly placed 13th overall and 10th in the male field. Joshua Lecrone, 34, of Mount Airy, N.C., led all runners and set a new male course record in 12:52:32. Janessa Taylor, 48, of Redmond, Ohio, finished fifth overall and set a female course record in 14:59:21.
There were 193 finishers within the 30-hour time limit, and 113 completed the race in less than 24 hours. While Connelly was among that group, so was the other New Englander who finished the race. Mirko Andric, 54, of Cambridge, Mass., finished 75th in 22:37:04
Canyon de Chelly Ultra 55K
Four New Englanders took part in the 13th edition of the Canyon de Chelly Ultra 55K on Saturday, Oct. 10 at the Navajo Reservation in Arizona, and two of them had been there before. Both Brian Mooney and Mitchell Darrow knew the course well, having run its trails, passed ancient ruins and petroglyphs, and climbed through canyons twice before.
Mooney, 60, of Brattleboro, Vt., ultimately led the New England contingent and finished 22nd in 6:47:58. Barak Soreff, 35, of Dorchester, Mass., was the next New Englander to finish, placing 65th in 7:52:53 in his ultra debut. Fred Schmuhl, 61, of Hampton, N.H., placed 78th in 8:21:15. Darrow, 63, of South Portland, Maine, earned his third finish while placing 103rd in 9:23:00.
Santiago Hardy, 27, of Chinle, Ariz., led the field of 141 finishers in 4:26:15. Top female Jaime Dawes, 48, of Rio Rancho, N.M., placed 10th overall in 5:58:40.
That’s No Moon Trail Races
Three New Englanders took on the jeep roads in the Cleveland National Forest and the Santa Ana Mountains at the fifth edition of the That’s No Moon Trail Races on Saturday, Oct. 10 in Silverado, Calif. No New Englanders were among the 58 runners who finished the 50-mile race within 15 hours, but all three were among the 54 who completed the 50K within 11 hours.
Sam Mocarski, 35, of Barrington, R.I., placed 13th overall in 6:16:12. The strong performance was the latest for Mocarski, who won the Ocean State Ultra 6-hour race in late August. Reid Briesbach, 21, of Jamaica Plain, Mass., finished 37th in 7:35:01. It was his first ultra. Additionally, 36-year-old Sarah McWhirter of Brookline, Mass., finished 44th in 8:21:00.
Sebastian Sivgals, 26, of Lake Forest, Calif., was the top male finisher in 5:25:54 while 42-year-old Erika Abraham of La Verne, Calif., led the female field in 5:48:53.
*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.
