The Sept. 20-22 weekend saw New Englanders toe the starting line of no fewer than 18 ultramarathons throughout the United States. There was so much racing going on that it merits two roundups this week to catch up on the action. We’ll finish in the East with Part II of this week’s roundup focused on events closer to home. We start in the Upper Midwest and the West, where several runners earned their first ultramarathon finishes and first 100-mile finishes. First-timers and veterans alike took on a wide range of terrain including smooth, rolling trails and rugged, high alpine mountain trails, on courses in Minnesota, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and California. Runners from the region also took part in the Flagstaff to Grand Canyon Stagecoach 100 in Arizona, and the Mile Madness Ultras in California, though results from those events were unavailable at the time of publication.

Ultramarathon action was intense in the Northeast during the Sept. 13-15 weekend, but a handful of New Englanders also headed West to tackle tough ultras. A few stopped in the Midwest to take on the Cowboy 200, highlighted by Cole Crosby’s course record-setting performance, while others ventured further West to Montana for the rugged Rut 50K. We have both events covered in Part II of this week’s roundup.

The second weekend of September remained red-hot for New Englanders on the ultramarathon racing scene. Here in Massachusetts, runners took on the rugged Free to Run Trail Races at Pittsfield State Forest, but the Bay State wasn’t the only spot where New Englanders raced. There was plenty of ultramarathon action in New Hampshire where runners tackled 50 miles at Kilkenny Ridge or 50K at the Pisgah Mountain Trail Races. Additionally, runners in the Northeast tackled ultras in New York and Pennsylvania. We have all those races covered here in Part I of this week’s roundup. In Part II, we’ll head to the Midwest and the West. 

The Sept. 6-8 weekend was jam-packed with ultramarathon racing in New England – and that goes far beyond the 500-plus runners who raced a variety of distances at the TARC Fall Classic in Massachusetts. Five additional ultra events took place in the region, with two in Maine, one in Vermont, and two in Connecticut. We’ll catch up with the TARC Fall Classic in a separate article, but we start this edition of the roundup in Maine with the Cherry Hill Farm 50K, then sweep through Vermont for the Groton Forest Trail Run 26.5-miler, and then drop down to Connecticut for the Cross-Connecticut Run for Mental Health Awareness 56-miler and the Macedonia 50K. Results from Maine’s Megunticook Trail Festival were unavailable at the time of publication, but there’s still plenty to read in this edition of the roundup.

New England was slammed with ultramarathons during the Sept. 6-8 weekend – six to be exact. Still, all those options didn’t prevent runners from the region from venturing to ultras across the country. We’ll catch up on the local events in Part II of this week’s roundup, but here in Part I we catch up on seven other ultras, beginning in Michigan where Boston’s Laura Ricci had a podium finish – as did her older sister – at the Hallucination 100.

Labor Day weekend had a mostly quiet ultrarunning calendar in North America, but there was a bit of action in New England and beyond. In Massachusetts, The Village Ultra once again welcomed runners to the New Salem Town Common for a choose-your-own-adventure-style run which will be highlighted in a separate article. In Maine, more than 150 runners gathered at Pineland Farms for an epic Last Man Standing showdown that saw the defending champion remain at the top. From there, we swing through Ohio and Iowa where runners from the region secured hard-earned finishes.

The Aug. 23-25 weekend wasn’t just jam-packed in the Northeast, it was also busy in the Midwest and West as New Englanders traveled great lengths to run great lengths at a variety of challenging races. We begin in Kansas, where John Sherback conquered the hot Heartland heat for a strong finish at the Hell Creek 50K. Then we swing through Ohio where Maine’s Beth Beaulieu earned her first 100-mile finish. From there, we head to Colorado for the Telluride Mountain Run 40-miler, and on to Oregon for the Oregon Cascades 100-miler. Additionally, a few New Englanders raced the Continental Divide 50K in Colorado and the Ute 100 in Utah; results from those races were unavailable at the time of publication.

Ultramarathons were aplenty in the Northeast during the Aug. 23-25 weekend, and we have them covered here in Part I of this week’s roundup. In Massachusetts, the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the ninth edition of the Jug End Loop Ultra 6-hour race, which will be covered in a separate recap. Beyond the Bay State, runners took on 50-mile and 50K distances at the Firebird Trail Races in Maine, several others hit the trails at a trio of ultras in New York, and a few more raced in New Jersey. Additionally, results are still coming in from about a half-dozen ultras in the Midwest and West where New Englanders toed the starting line, and we’ll have them covered in Part II.

The New England presence was strong at ultramarathons in the West during the Aug. 16-18 weekend. Here in Part II of this week’s roundup, we catch up on how New Englanders did at seven races out West, from Colorado to California, Oregon and Washington, to Wisconsin and Alberta. Plenty of reading awaits in this edition of the roundup.

The summertime ultramarathon calendar was hot during the Aug. 16-18 weekend as New Englanders took on trails from coast to coast. The main event in New England was the TARC Summer Classic where more than 100 runners took on 40-mile and 50K ultras or a 10-mile race on the trails of Noon Hill Reservation in Medfield, Mass. The Summer Classic has its own separate story, but so many runners scattered the country to race that we have all the rest captured in a two-part roundup. Part II will take us out West, but here in Part I we stay in the East, where runners took on the Fabulous Fahnestock 50K in New York and the MD Heat Trail Race 50K in Maryland.