Labor Day weekend was light on ultramarathons throughout the United States, though it was a surprisingly busy Sept. 1-3 weekend for racing here in New England. In Massachusetts, the seventh edition of The Village Ultra took place in New Salem (separate recap in the works), but dozens of ultrarunners also took on regional races in Vermont and Maine. The Jay Peak Ultra tested runners on tough Vermont trails with more than 9,000 feet of climbing, while the inaugural Cherry Hill Farm Ultra in Maine ditched the vert for flat, fast, non-technical terrain that allowed more runners to push the pace. Both of those events are included in this edition of the roundup.

After a jam-packed month of summer racing, the Aug. 25-27 weekend was relatively quiet for ultrarunners in New England – but not completely quiet. A few runners headed west to Oregon and tackled the tough Scenic Beach ultras, while several stayed close to home and gathered in Maine for the annual Firebird Trail Races. It was there that the biggest performance of the weekend was turned in by Lila Gaudrault as the rising star cranked out a course record effort while winning the 50-mile race outright. It’s that big performance that leads off this edition of the roundup.

For some runners, the idea sparked dreams and wonder. For others, it likely caused nightmares. For all who signed up, the moment of truth arrived during the Aug. 18-20 weekend with the inaugural running of the Jigger Johnson 100-miler in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and second edition of the 100K and 50-mile. One of the hardest 100-milers in the United States made its long awaited debut in New England, and it proved to be as brutal as advertised. There were several other ultras that attracted New England ultrarunners during the Aug. 18-20 weekend – including the annual TARC Summer Classic in Massachusetts (see separate recap story – but top billing in this edition of the roundup goes to the Jigger Johnson Ultras.

The August 11-13 weekend saw dozens of ultrarunners flock to western Massachusetts for the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s popular Sweltering Summer Ultra, but it was also a big weekend for other ultras in New England and beyond as runners from the region took on a wide variety of races. Sweltering Summer will have its own separate recap, but in this edition of the roundup we look to Rhode Island and numerous big performances at the Anchor Down Ultra, as well as Vermont for the third edition of Lover’s Lane. We also turn to New York and the annual Beast of Burden Summer Edition, as well as to the West where runners from New England took on the Bigfoot 200 and Fat Dog 120.