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.