All posts by Chris Wristen

Founder and Editor of MassUltra.com

MassUltra Roundup: Drummer Hill, Centurion, SAMO, Kettle Moraine, and Windsor Castle

June 10-11 was a busy weekend for New England ultrarunners. Here in the region, runners took on the tough and technical Drummer Hill Trail Race in New Hampshire and the Centurion Ultra Trail Event in Connecticut. Additionally, a handful of runners in Rhode Island took on the Last Human Standing race. Results were unavailable as of this posting. Beyond the region, runners had big days racing on the West Coast at the SAMO 100, in the Midwest at Kettle Moraine in Wisconsin, as well as in Virginia at the Windsor Castle 10-hour. All of those events are included in this edition of the roundup.

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MassUltra Roundup: The CUT, Cayuga Trails, Worlds End, Old Dominion, Dam Yeti, and Sawmill

The Chesterfield Gorge Ultra in Massachusetts has quickly established itself as a popular early-June attraction for ultrarunners in New England, but there’s another low-key event that continues to tempt more runners to its course: the Connecticut Ultra Traverse, or CUT 112. The 112-mile north-south journey across the state is too much for some, so a 100K option was added in 2022 and a 50-mile version made its debut in 2023. There were many other popular ultras that attracted New Englanders during the June 2-4 weekend – including Cayuga Trails in nearby New York – but the CUT leads off this edition of the roundup.

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Results: Chesterfield Gorge Ultra

Beast Coast Trail Running played host to the fifth edition of the Chesterfield Gorge Ultra on June 3-4 at the Chesterfield Gorge Reservation in Chesterfield, Mass. Runners had 30 hours to complete 50K, 50-mile, 100K and 100-mile ultra distances, as well as a 25K race, all on a 15-mile round-trip out-and-back course through the scenic gorge.

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Lost In the Woods: Large Crop of Newcomers Take On DRB

MILTON, Mass. – Howie Breinan gathered the crowd of runners near the starting line by Houghton’s Pond for the pre-race briefing. Breinan scanned the faces looking back at him and recognized a few, but most were a bit unfamiliar – at least at this starting line.

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MassUltra Roundup: Infinitus, Spring Fling, and Pineland Farms

The May ultrarunning calendar came to a close with a handful of New England events that attracted hundreds of runners for ultra and sub-ultra distances. That included the CT Trailmixers’ Spring Fling 600 in Connecticut, a 10-hour endurance challenge, as well as the popular Pineland Farms Trail Festival in Maine. Additionally, Infinitus offered an assortment of ultra-distance and multi-day options in Vermont. All three of these regional events are featured in this edition of the roundup.

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Free to Run Trail Races Return with New Course, Distances

After months of anticipation, registration for the Free to Run Trail Races opened on Saturday, May 27, on UltraSignup. The event, which has been a staple of the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s BURCS Badass Race Series since 2015, returns with a few new features for 2023.

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MacDonald Defends Title on Tough Day at Wapack

During the first 13 years of the Wapack and Back Trail Races only two runners won back-to-back titles in either the 50-mile or 43-mile distances – Josh Katzman during his 2012 and 2013 runs that remain the top two men’s 50-mile performances in event history, and Debbie Livingston’s winning performances in the women’s field in 2013 and 2014.

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MassUltra Roundup: Massanutten, Dirty German, Run Ragged, and Cruel Jewel

May is winding down quickly and May 20-21 was a mostly quiet weekend of ultramarathon racing in New England. The Run Ragged Last One Standing was the lone race in the region, and runners traveled to a few other ultras along the East Coast. Most notably, nine New Englanders earned finishes at the Massanutten 100-miler in Virginia, including Fairhaven’s Kevin Mullen who completed the challenging race for the seventh time. Additionally, Marblehead’s Kate Cook successfully finished the 50-miler at the Dirty German Endurance Fest in her final tune-up before running Western States next month. Those efforts lead off this edition of the roundup.

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