A handful of New England residents were among the final runners to finish an ultramarathon in 2021 or the first to complete one in 2022. That was the case – as it has been for a few decades – for runners at Across the Years in Phoenix, Ariz. It was one of the few events to take place that overlaps the turning of a new year, and it kicks off the 2022 edition of the roundup.

The 2021 ultrarunning season is rapidly coming to a close. Days have grown shorter, and race calendars have, too. Only a handful of ultras remain on the slate between now and the new year. Light racing has taken place during the first few weekends of December, but a handful of runners from the region have made their way to starting lines around the country. That includes Cambridge resident Alexander Lenail, whose busy December included racing locally at the Fells Winter Ultra before heading to California and turning in a strong showing at the Woodside Ramble 50K. His performance leads off this edition of the roundup.

Winter is nearly upon us, and the 2021 ultramarathon season is rapidly coming to a close. The first weekend of December saw far fewer races than in recent months, and although most New England residents who raced during the Dec. 4-5 weekend opted to stay local at the Fells Winter Ultra in Stoneham, Mass., a handful headed out of state to race. That included Graham Simon who delivered a dandy of a performance in his first 100-mile race at the Devil Dog Ultras in Virginia. His strong performance leads off this week’s roundup.

November has been busy for ultras in Massachusetts, starting with the Stone Cat 50K and followed by both the Race for DFL and TARCkey Trot 6-Hour Ultras on Nov. 13-14. While those events attracted many runners from Massachusetts and greater New England, a handful of runners from the region still raced beyond the Bay State, including the inaugural offering of a 50K distance at the Bold Coast Bash in Maine. That race and more are featured in this week’s roundup.

November opened with a bang for New England ultrarunners. In addition to the classic Stone Cat Trail Race in Ipswich, Mass., it seemed ultras were taking place throughout the region as well as all across the country. That included a record year at the White Lake Ultras in New Hampshire and the inaugural RUTFest in Vermont, which were popular draws. Additionally, numerous runners from New England took part in a variety of time-based races at the Hamsterwheel Ultras in New Hampshire. Results from that event are not yet posted, but we will include them in a future roundup when available.

October finished with a flurry of strong performances by ultrarunners from New England, but none had a bigger weekend than Tyler Andrews. The resident of Concord, Mass., took on a massive, speedy field at the high-profile Javelina Jundred – though he raced the 100K rather than the 100-miler – and Andrews brought a victory back to the Bay State. His performance leads off a busy roundup that also includes the Mountain Masochist 50 in Virginia, Tussey Mountainback 50 in Pennsylvania, the Chicago Lakefront 50 in the Midwest, and a belated recap of the popular Bimbler’s Bluff 50K in Connecticut.

A week after hundreds of New England ultrarunners took on the Ghost Train Rail Trail Race, the Oct. 22-24 racing weekend was mostly quiet for ultrarunners in the region — but not entirely. The Joe English Twilight Challenge welcomed runners for an evening of running in New Hampshire, and it leads off this edition of the roundup.

The Ghost Train Rail Trail Race was the main draw for New England ultrarunners during the Oct. 15-17 weekend, but a handful of runners from the region opted to race elsewhere. The second-biggest draw in the region for the weekend was the popular Runamuck 50K in Vermont, which offered races on both Saturday and Sunday, giving runners scheduling flexibility as well as a bit of extra space as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. A few others tackled a new vertical challenge event in Vermont, while one Massachusetts man made his ultra debut out West on the Pony Express Trail. Ghost Train will have its own separate writeup, but everything else is captured in this edition of the roundup.

The weekend before the Ghost Train Rail Trail Race is typically pretty quiet in New England as hundreds of ultrarunners rest and make final preparations for the 30-hour event. A handful always race, however, and that was certainly the case this year as runners scattered to multiple races during the Oct. 8-10 weekend. Some headed north to Maine for the popular Big Brad Ultras, while others ventured to nearby New York and Pennsylvania for the CanLake Ultras and the Green Monster Challenge. Additionally, a dozen runners from the region successfully finished the most grueling race of all in North America that weekend — the Moab 240 in Utah — and that leads off this edition of the roundup.

The most spellbinding race of the Oct. 1-3 weekend was the duel between Brian Burke and Ed Clifford at Bubba’s Backyard Ultra, but it was far from the only race that attracted ultrarunners from New England. Bubba’s and three other ultras were featured in Part 1 of the Oct. 1-3 roundup, but there was so much racing that weekend that it merited a second. Here in Part 2, we feature the New England classic: the NipMuck Trail Marathon, which extends ever so slightly into ultra territory, and we also highlight the Flagstaff Sky Peaks 50K, Yeti Snakebite Ultra, and the Blues Cruise 50K. The late-summer race schedule was jam-packed, and now the fall is off to a hectic start. Read on.