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.