September ended and October began with another jam-packed weekend of ultramarathon racing for New Englanders. In fact, runners from the region tackled more than a dozen ultras from coast to coast. That’s more than enough ultras to make Sept. 30-Oct. 1 a two-roundup week so we’re splitting it up between ultras in the Northeast and everything else. Here in part one we highlight a half-dozen ultras – most of them in the west, including the 25th edition of The Bear 100. Three others outside the Northeast (Saddle2Surf, Rio Grande 100, and the Stanky Creek 50K) had New England entrants but haven’t yet posted results. Even without them, this made for a looooooong edition of the roundup.

The Sept. 22-24 weekend was surprisingly quiet in Massachusetts, but it was busy in the rest of New England as the legendary Vermont 50 turned 30, the Angevine Farm 50K and Enchanted Forest 6-hour took place in Connecticut, and Uphill Will made its debut in Maine. All of those regional races are featured in this edition of the roundup.

After several weekends of ultras in Massachusetts, Sept. 22-24 was quiet in the Bay State … but not anywhere else. Runners from the Commonwealth and throughout New England were busy tackling ultras seemingly everywhere else. There were so many races, in fact, that they merit being split into two roundups this week – one for New England races and another for ultras elsewhere. We start beyond the region with a look at how local runners performed in New Jersey, California, Oregon and Arizona. Additionally, we catch up on New Englanders who completed the Run Rabbit Run 100-miler on Sept. 15-17 in Colorado. It’s a jam-packed edition of the roundup – and it’s only part one this week.

The Sept. 15-17 weekend was a busy one for ultrarunners in Massachusetts with ultra events in both the eastern and western parts of the Commonwealth (MetroWest Backyard Ultra in Needham and the Free to Run Trail Races in Pittsfield), but the racing didn’t stop there. Many New Englanders also gathered in New Hampshire for the classic Pisgah Mountain Trail Races, where Brian Rusiecki returned to a course he knows well and secured another victory. Others headed to New York for the Pawling 24 time-based event, while others headed south to Georgia and Tennessee or west to Arizona to compete. We have them all covered in this edition of the roundup.

From mid-September through early November is typically the busiest stretch of the ultrarunning season, and that trend did not let up during the Sept. 8-10 weekend as New Englanders tackled races locally and all across the country. Nearly 500 runners took part in the annual TARC Fall Classic in Carlisle, Mass. (separate recap to follow), but many runners branched out across the region – from Maine and Connecticut – to race. Several others scattered throughout the country to tackle 100-mile races, from New York to Utah, to Arizona, Oregon and Pennsylvania. And that’s just the ultras that have posted their results so far! Collectively, that makes for plenty of reading in this edition of the roundup.

Labor Day weekend was light on ultramarathons throughout the United States, though it was a surprisingly busy Sept. 1-3 weekend for racing here in New England. In Massachusetts, the seventh edition of The Village Ultra took place in New Salem (separate recap in the works), but dozens of ultrarunners also took on regional races in Vermont and Maine. The Jay Peak Ultra tested runners on tough Vermont trails with more than 9,000 feet of climbing, while the inaugural Cherry Hill Farm Ultra in Maine ditched the vert for flat, fast, non-technical terrain that allowed more runners to push the pace. Both of those events are included in this edition of the roundup.

After a jam-packed month of summer racing, the Aug. 25-27 weekend was relatively quiet for ultrarunners in New England – but not completely quiet. A few runners headed west to Oregon and tackled the tough Scenic Beach ultras, while several stayed close to home and gathered in Maine for the annual Firebird Trail Races. It was there that the biggest performance of the weekend was turned in by Lila Gaudrault as the rising star cranked out a course record effort while winning the 50-mile race outright. It’s that big performance that leads off this edition of the roundup.

For some runners, the idea sparked dreams and wonder. For others, it likely caused nightmares. For all who signed up, the moment of truth arrived during the Aug. 18-20 weekend with the inaugural running of the Jigger Johnson 100-miler in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and second edition of the 100K and 50-mile. One of the hardest 100-milers in the United States made its long awaited debut in New England, and it proved to be as brutal as advertised. There were several other ultras that attracted New England ultrarunners during the Aug. 18-20 weekend – including the annual TARC Summer Classic in Massachusetts (see separate recap story – but top billing in this edition of the roundup goes to the Jigger Johnson Ultras.

The August 11-13 weekend saw dozens of ultrarunners flock to western Massachusetts for the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s popular Sweltering Summer Ultra, but it was also a big weekend for other ultras in New England and beyond as runners from the region took on a wide variety of races. Sweltering Summer will have its own separate recap, but in this edition of the roundup we look to Rhode Island and numerous big performances at the Anchor Down Ultra, as well as Vermont for the third edition of Lover’s Lane. We also turn to New York and the annual Beast of Burden Summer Edition, as well as to the West where runners from New England took on the Bigfoot 200 and Fat Dog 120.

Ultrarunners from across the country flocked to New England during the Aug. 4-6 weekend for the USATF 50K Trail National Championship as part of the Ragged 75 Stage Race event in New Hampshire, highlighting a big weekend for ultrarunners in the region. Both the men’s and women’s championships came home to Massachusetts thanks to Boston’s Philip Royer and Hannah Rowe who hammered the tough, rugged course. But Ragged wasn’t the lone race in the region during the weekend. Several other runners ventured to Maine for the inaugural Blue Hill Mountain Trail Fest. Additionally, many runners headed south to Virginia our West To Oregon, Washington and Hawaii for other races. We have them all covered in this edition of the roundup.