While much of the ultrarunning world was looking ahead a week to the UTMB races in Europe, the focus of several New England ultrarunners was directed stateside at tough races in Colorado and New York. Several New Englanders took part in the classic 100-mile “Race Across the Sky” in Leadville, Colo., while many more threw down on a challenging course in New York at the Twisted Branch 100K. Both races are featured in this edition of the roundup.

The summer ultra racing season continues to heat up, and some of the hottest racing during the Aug. 12-14 weekend was turned in at the seventh edition of the Anchor Down Ultra in Rhode Island where hundreds of runners from the region gathered to race for 6, 12 or 24 hours on a loop course. A multi-time defending champion and an upstart challenger delivered a dandy of a race, and that battle leads off this edition of the roundup.

Though the Trail Animals Running Club’s TARC Summer Classic attracted several local runners to the trails of Noon Hill Reservation in Medfield during the Aug. 5-7 weekend, it wasn’t the only draw for New England ultrarunners. Several gathered in New Hampshire for one or three days of tough racing at the Ragged Stage Race and 50K – and New Hampshire’s Leslie O’Dell highlighted the weekend with a course-record performance. Runners from the region also took part in other races such as the Volcanic 50 in Washington State and the Loopy Looper in New Jersey, but O’Dell’s effort leads off this edition of the roundup.

July came to a close with lots of racing by New England ultrarunners at events in the Northeast and beyond. Several races haven’t posted their final results, but among those that did there were a few big-time performances by runners from the region. Perhaps none were bigger than Britta Clark’s smashing performance at the Moosalamoo Ultra 36-miler in Vermont. Her record-setting effort leads off this edition of the roundup.