Two fatass-style ultramarathons occupy the January slate in Massachusetts, with the G.A.C. Fat Ass 50K having taken place Jan. 4 and the Cape Cod Frozen Fat Ass 50K coming up Jan. 18 in Barnstable. The weekend between them, Jan. 11-12, featured a slight slate of ultras nationally, but two Massachusetts residents collected hard-earned finishes at out-of-state races. In Texas, Boylston’s Neil Feldman battled to the finish line of the challenging Bandera 100K, while Boston’s Wilson Ray logged his first ultra finish at the Frozen Gnome 50K in Illinois. Both races are included in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Bandera and Frozen Gnome →

More than 550 runners welcomed in the new year by logging mileage for days on end at the 36th annual Across the Years fixed-time ultras at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix, Ariz., and that group included eight runners from New England. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Across the Years →

A light post-Christmas weekend of ultrarunning included one last chance for New Englanders to tackle an ultra distance at the West Rock Winter Fat Ass Extravaganza 8-hour event in Connecticut. That race – as well as belated pre-holiday results from the Lookout Mountain 50-miler in Tennessee – provide some light reading in the final roundup of 2019. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: West Rock and Lookout Mountain →

Massachusetts ultrarunners rung in the holiday season with a few solid performances, the most festive coming from Boston resident Joe McConaughy who raised more than $2,000 for the Crohn’s and Colitis foundation by running 100 miles on a track. Additionally, another Boston resident gave herself the gift of becoming an ultrarunner as Jacqueline Kressee finished the Woodside Ramble 50K in California, and Bolton resident Sandee Richards celebrated the season by crossing the finish line of the 50K race at the Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic in Florida. Those three events make for some cheerful holiday reading in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Joe McConaughy’s Track 100-Miler, the Woodside Ramble and Tallahassee Ultra Distance Classic →

A trio of Massachusetts residents squeezed in one last ultramarathon before the holidays when they traveled to races in California, Tennessee and Pennsylvania to explore new trails on Saturday, Dec. 14. Those races – the Rodeo Beach 50K, the Bell Ringer 50K and the Naked Nick 50K – make for light reading in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Rodeo Beach, Bell Ringer, and Naked Nick →

Only a handful of racing opportunities remain as the 2019 ultramarathon racing season nears its conclusion. New England residents seized on a few of those opportunities on the Dec. 7-8 weekend, with some racing 100-milers in Florida, Texas and South Carolina, and others racing 50 miles or 50K in Arizona. The warm weather fueled some fast performances, but none were better than Lynnfield resident Lori Mitchener’s victory at the Daytona 100. Her trip to Victory Lane leads off this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Daytona, Brazos Bend, Devil Dog, and the McDowell Mountain Frenzy →

Thanksgiving weekend always features a light ultrarunning calendar in the United States with just a handful of ultras scattered around the country. Two of those events included New England representation, however, and one of them saw a Massachusetts man finish on the podium. Woburn’s Roy Van Buren secured a third-place overall finish in the 12-hour race at Delirium in South Carolina to highlight the weekend, while Cambridge’s Matthew Smith raced to a top-10 finish at the Bosque Bigfoot 50K in New Mexico. Those races provided for some light reading in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Delirium and Bosque Bigfoot →

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, several ultrarunners from New England sought out opportunities to burn a bunch of calories prior to the big holiday feast. Most headed to Maryland for the classic JFK, and two Massachusetts women, Somerville’s Sarah Aponte and Boston’s Kate Mingle earned top-10 finishes, as did Vermont’s Alexander Jinks. Additionally, Eric Despres of Gardner, Mass., earned his second straight podium finish at the Dinosaur Valley 100 in Texas, and Westminster’s Will Bradley tallied 200 miles in Florida at the Icarus UltraFest. All of those feats are highlighted in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: JFK, Dinosaur Valley, and Icarus UltraFest →

While the TARCkey Trot (separate article) attracted the largest crowd of New England ultrarunners to Wright-Locke Farm in Massachusetts during the Nov. 16-17 weekend, a few runners from the region headed West to tackle new trails. None had a bigger day than Kara Olivito who won the Chimera 100K outright in California. Several others took part in the North Face Endurance Challenge championship races in California, while others raced the 50-miler or 50K at Dead Horse in Moab, Utah. Those races are included in this week’s brief roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Chimera, TNFEC-San Francisco, and Dead Horse →