New England ultrarunners were so busy racing during the Nov. 4-6 weekend that it merited two roundups this week. We highlighted results from five races outside of New England in Part 1. Though we’re still awaiting the results from RutFest in Vermont, the results from the Hamsterwheel in New Hampshire and 8 Hours at the Farm in Connecticut are in – and they featured some big-time performances. None were bigger than those turned in by Massachusetts residents Cody Cutler and Laura Ricci at the Hamsterwheel. Both Bay Staters smashed course records with their winning performances, and they lead off Part 2 of this week’s roundup.
Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: The Hamsterwheel and 8 Hours at the FarmAll posts by Chris Wristen
MassUltra Roundup: Pinhoti, Fire Fest, Batona, Antelope Island, and Fall Back Into the Trails
November opened with a flurry of races for New England ultrarunners. Here in Massachusetts, the Stone Cat 50K in Ipswich was the major draw, but three other New England ultras (Hamsterwheel, RutFest and 8 Hours at the Farm) also lured plenty of runners to the starting line. And then there were the races outside New England. The Nov. 4-6 weekend was so busy that it merits two roundups to attempt to catch everything. In this one we focus on the non-New England ultras that attracted runners from the region. The biggest performance from that group came from Connecticut’s Johanna Ylanen who notched her latest 100-mile victory at the Pinhoti 100 in Alabama. Read on for more in this edition of the roundup.
Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Pinhoti, Fire Fest, Batona, Antelope Island, and Fall Back Into the Trails
Photos: Stone Cat 50K
The 21st and likely final running of the Stone Cat Trail Race was held on Saturday, Nov. 5, at Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich, Mass. First held in 2001 as the creation of Gil’s Athletic Club – or G.A.C. – Stone Cat was originally a 50-mile and marathon event, Stone Cat combined races into a single 50K beginning in 2019. That distance and course remained the same again this year. More than 230 runners took part in this year’s event, and Brian Burke was on hand to take photos. All photos in this gallery were taken by Brian, and a full gallery of his images can be viewed at this link.
Continue reading Photos: Stone Cat 50K
Results: Stone Cat 50K
The 21st and likely final running of the Stone Cat Trail Race took place on Saturday, Nov. 5, at Willowdale State Forest in Ipswich, Mass. The event once again used the 50K distance that it debuted in 2019. Of the 233 starters of this year’s race, 157 finished within 9 hours. Men’s champion and overall winner Nicholas Lemon logged the second-fastest time in course history, missing the men’s course record by less than two minutes, while overall runner-up and women’s champion Lila Gaudrault smashed the women’s course record by 12 minutes.
Continue reading Results: Stone Cat 50K
By Popular Demand, Womp Romp Grows into 50K Ultra
There’s something special about the trails of Wompatuck State Park.
Continue reading By Popular Demand, Womp Romp Grows into 50K UltraMassUltra Roundup: Javelina, Kansas Rails-to-Trails, and Bimblers Bluff
A red-hot October for ultrarunners in New England came to a close with a somewhat quiet Oct. 29-30 weekend. Many runners were recovering from big races like Midstate Massive and Ghost Train while others were tapering before the upcoming Stone Cat 50K or the Hamsterwheel. Still, a few folks headed west to the Halloween party in Arizona known as the Javelina Jundred. Additionally, a few more traveled to Kansas to earn ultramarathon finishes at the Rails-to-Trails Extravaganza. Additionally, we caught up on the Bimblers Bluff 50K in Connecticut from the weekend before.
Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Javelina, Kansas Rails-to-Trails, and Bimblers Bluff
Double the Fun: After Successful First Year, Runners Tackle Tough 50K at Mt. Tom
When Amy Rusiecki organized the inaugural Mt. Tom Trail Race 25K and team relay in 2021, the Beast Coast Trail Running race director crafted a course that lulled runners in with a smooth, speedy road section warm-up before smacking them with a strong dose of rugged New England singletrack – much of it hidden under a blanket of leaves. The result was some blood and brutality, outshined by a whole lot of fun.
So much fun was had that Rusiecki doubled down on the event for 2022 and added a 50K ultramarathon to the lineup.
Continue reading Double the Fun: After Successful First Year, Runners Tackle Tough 50K at Mt. Tom
Ghost Train Celebrates 13th Year with Scary-Fast Performances, Ultra Spirit
BROOKLINE, N.H. – From the first hour to the final minutes, the Ghost Train Rail Trail Race featured a masterful mix of spooky Halloween ambiance and robust ultrarunning spirit at the 13th annual event on Oct. 15-16 on the Milford and Brookline Rail Trail.
Continue reading Ghost Train Celebrates 13th Year with Scary-Fast Performances, Ultra SpiritMassUltra Roundup: Farm to Farm, Bobcat, and Rhode Island Trail Classic
It has been a wild month for major local ultras with the Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail and Ghost Train Rail Trail Race taking top billing for largest events. Those events on back-to-back weekends were followed by an Oct. 22-23 weekend that featured two more Massachusetts ultras – the Womp Romp 50K and Mt. Tom Trail Race 50K. Still, there were a handful of events in New England and beyond that attracted runners from the region during the second-to-last weekend of October. Included among them were the inaugural running of the Rhode Island Trail Classic, as well as the return of Maine’s Farm to Farm Ultra – which saw 20-year-old Lila Gaudrault deliver a stunning 50-mile debut performance that ranks among the best performances in North America this year. Read all about it in this edition of the roundup.
Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Farm to Farm, Bobcat, and Rhode Island Trail ClassicResults: Womp Romp Trail Races
The second annual Womp Romp 10-miler and inaugural 50K took place Saturday, Oct. 22, at Wompatuck State Park in Hingham, Mass. The event took place on a 10-mile loop course with a mix of single- and double-track trails, rail trail and paved path that runners completed one or three times. Proceeds from the event benefited Friends of the Wompatuck.
Continue reading Results: Womp Romp Trail Races
