New Englanders took part in no fewer than 20 ultramarathons across the United States during the Oct. 4-6 weekend, with a few races in the region but most scattered throughout the country. We’ll have as many of them covered as we can during the course of two roundups. Here in Part I, we look to the West and Midwest, where runners raced everything from 50K to 100 miles. We start in California, where New Hampshire resident Kara Olivito earned her latest podium finish on the West Coast, and then head to Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois and Arkansas.

New Englanders had an abundance of nearby ultramarathon options to close out September, and they took full advantage. In addition to the massive field that turned out for the MetroWest Backyard Ultra in Needham, Mass. (separate recap article), hundreds more raced in Vermont at a New England classic – the Vermont 50, as well as in Maine at the Farm to Farm Ultra, in Connecticut at the Tunxis Trail Ultra, and in nearby New York at the brand new Parallel of Latitude 8-Hour Ultra.

The Sept. 27-29 weekend was jam-packed with ultramarathon racing in New England, from the MetroWest Backyard Ultra in Massachusetts, to the classic Vermont 50, to additional ultras in Maine and Connecticut. We’ll have those events covered in Part 2 of this week’s roundup, but here in Part I we focus on the West where runners from the region raced in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico, highlighted by Maine’s Peter Troast successfully finishing the Rocky Mountain Slam.

Part I of our massive Sept. 18-22 ultrarunning weekend roundup focused on New Englanders’ successes in the Midwest and West. Here in Part II, we turn to the East Coast where runners turned in strong performances at races in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee and Georgia. Additionally, runners from the region also raced in Michigan, Wisconsin, Maryland and Virginia, though results from those events were unavailable at the time of publication.

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.