Western States week is upon us and several New England residents are preparing to take on the sport’s original 100-mile race through the mountains in California. But before the WSER hype hits its fever pitch, let’s look back at the June 16-18 weekend when several New England residents took on trail adventures throughout the country. A handful of runners from the region overcame the big climbs of Wyoming to complete the Bighorn 100, including Massachusetts resident Jason Baker and Vermont’s Felix Lawson who earned top-10 finishes. In New York, New Englanders’ swept the top three spots at the Mountain Lakes Backyard Ultra, and in Washington State a pair of Massachusetts women tackled their first ultra while others from New England completed the tough 46K mini-ultra at the Broken Arrow Skyrace. All of those are included in this edition of the roundup.

June 10-11 was a busy weekend for New England ultrarunners. Here in the region, runners took on the tough and technical Drummer Hill Trail Race in New Hampshire and the Centurion Ultra Trail Event in Connecticut. Additionally, a handful of runners in Rhode Island took on the Last Human Standing race. Results were unavailable as of this posting. Beyond the region, runners had big days racing on the West Coast at the SAMO 100, in the Midwest at Kettle Moraine in Wisconsin, as well as in Virginia at the Windsor Castle 10-hour. All of those events are included in this edition of the roundup.

The May ultrarunning calendar came to a close with a handful of New England events that attracted hundreds of runners for ultra and sub-ultra distances. That included the CT Trailmixers’ Spring Fling 600 in Connecticut, a 10-hour endurance challenge, as well as the popular Pineland Farms Trail Festival in Maine. Additionally, Infinitus offered an assortment of ultra-distance and multi-day options in Vermont. All three of these regional events are featured in this edition of the roundup.

May is winding down quickly and May 20-21 was a mostly quiet weekend of ultramarathon racing in New England. The Run Ragged Last One Standing was the lone race in the region, and runners traveled to a few other ultras along the East Coast. Most notably, nine New Englanders earned finishes at the Massanutten 100-miler in Virginia, including Fairhaven’s Kevin Mullen who completed the challenging race for the seventh time. Additionally, Marblehead’s Kate Cook successfully finished the 50-miler at the Dirty German Endurance Fest in her final tune-up before running Western States next month. Those efforts lead off this edition of the roundup.

Part I of our May 13-14 weekend roundup focused on ultras beyond New England. Here in Part II, we catch up on results from three New England ultras beyond the Bay State. Each saw some big performances by runners from the region. In Connecticut, Clorice Reinhardt and Jenny Hoffman turned in the top two women’s times in course history at the Cross-Connecticut Run for Mental Health. In New Hampshire, the men’s and women’s course records fell at the Manchester 2 Monadnock 55-miler. And in Vermont, runners gutted out hard-earned finishes at 100 miles, 50 miles and 50K at the Blood Root Ultra. Read on to learn more about it.

A red-hot start to May saw so many New England ultrarunners take part in races beyond the Bay State borders that it merited two roundups for the May 5-7 weekend. In Part I, we caught up with ultras from the region. Here in Part II, we turn to events throughout the rest of the country. There was no tougher race in early May than the Cocodona 250 in Arizona, and that made it an ideal choice for Vermont’s Aliza Lapierre to make her debut at the 200-plus-mile distances. Additionally, we we catch up with the Quad Rock 50 in Colorado, the Tillamook Burn Ultras in Oregon, the Strolling Jim 40-mile road race in Tennessee, and then close out with late April’s C&O Canal 100-miler in Maryland where four New Englanders secured hard-earned finishes.

A jam-packed opening weekend of May means another two-roundup week to highlight all of the action for the New England ultrarunning community. In Part 1 of our roundup of May 5-7 weekend ultras we focus on the events that took place right here in New England – the Riverlands 100 in Maine, the White Lake Ultras in New Hampshire, and the Blue2Blue Challenge in Connecticut.

A busy April came to a close with a typically busy final weekend courtesy of the historic Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug Ultras in Connecticut which saw several runners from the region tackle 100K, 50-mile and 50K distances, and two women in the 100K turned in some of the finest performances in the event’s 48-year history. Plus, Vermont’s Arlee Hiskey picked up her first ultra victory at the Falling Water 100K in West Virginia, and two New England women secured spots on the podium at the Ultra Race of Champions in Virginia. We also have local results from the O24 24-hour race in Ohio and the Troublesome Hollow 50K in Virginia. Additionally, a handful of New England residents took on the C&O Canal 100-miler in Maryland, though official results aren’t yet available so we’ll catch up on that race next week.

Part One of the April 22-23 weekend roundup focused on ultras in the East. Here in Part Two, we catch up on New England residents’ performances in the West, from Oregon to California and Arizona, starting with Matthew Betten’s successful return to the West Coast to race the Orcas Island 50-miler.