The inaugural East End 50K was an intimate affair with 17 starters and just a dozen finishers in 2018. Runners once again enjoyed a close-knit community feel in year two, held Sunday, August 4, even as the race experienced a surge in popularity.
The starting field nearly doubled in size with 33 runners toeing the line at Borderland State Park in Easton, Mass. After eight hours had passed, 27 runners had finished the race on the five-loop course and both the men’s and women’s course records had been smashed. The top five men all finished under last year’s winning time of 6:01:31 by Charn McAllister, and the top four women all dipped under Polina Lepniakova’s winning mark of 6:48:22 from 2018.
Britta Clark continued her recent domination of New England ultras with her overall win at the Moosalamoo 36-miler on Saturday in Vermont, leading a large contingent of New England runners. Additionally, Dan Kelley of Lynnfield, Mass., made his 100-mile debut with a strong showing at Angeles Crest in California, Cambridge resident David Huang tackled the tough Volcanic 50K in Washington, and Medford’s Emily Holland made her ultramarathon debut at the high-alpine Sheep Mountain 50K in Colorado. Details from those four races are featured in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Moosalamoo, Angeles Crest, Volcanic, and Sheep Mountain→
The second annual East End 50K took place on Sunday, Aug. 4, at Borderland State Park in Easton, Mass. Runners took part in a 50K ultramarathon, as well as in shorter 30K and 10K races. New men’s and women’s course records were set in the 50K race. Continue reading Results: East End 50K→
Runners put up some big numbers during the first three years of the Jug End Loop Ultra, including men’s and women’s course-record mileage that went untouched at this year’s race. That said, the fourth annual Jug featured plenty of big numbers of its own on Saturday, July 27, at Jug End State Reservation in Egremont, Mass.
For one thing, the 76 runners who took on the 6-hour race made up the largest field in the event’s brief history, and they were joined by more runners in the 27-mile and 4.2-mile races. While the participation tally brought a smile to race director Benn Griffin’s face, he was even more proud by the most impactful big number the runners delivered: $3,600. Continue reading Runners Deliver Big Numbers, Make Bigger Impact at Jug End→
The summer 100-miler season is in high gear, and New England ultrarunners took on some tough ones at the high-altitude High Lonesome 100 in Colorado and the hot and humid Burning River 100 in Ohio. Additionally, a few runners from the region took on the tough Never Summer 100K in Colorado and the classic Minnesota Voyageur 50-miler in Minnesota. We have all of those races covered in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: High Lonesome, Burning River, Never Summer, and Minnesota Voyageur→
The fourth annual Jug End Loop Ultra took place Saturday, July 27, at Jug End State Reservation in Egremont, Mass. Runners took on a 4.2-mile loop course, with a .88-mile mini loop used during the final hour. Additionally, runners had the option of racing a 27-miler and a 4.2-miler. Continue reading Results: Jug End Loop Ultra→
A few things have changed during its short history, but the Village Ultra remains true to its roots. Founded with the mission of raising funds to support charitable causes, the Village Ultra continues that mission as race director Carla Halpern prepares to play host to the third annual event Aug. 31-Sept. 1 on the Town Common in New Salem, Mass. Continue reading Third Annual Village Ultra to Raise Funds for RAICES→
Joe McConaughy is no stranger to pushing the pace in pursuit of major mileage, having established Fastest Known Times on the 2,660-mile Pacific Crest Trail in 2014, the 2,189-mile Appalachian Trail in 2017 and the 70-mile Wicklow Round in Ireland in 2018. Every day had big mileage on those efforts, including a grand 110.8-mile push in the final 37 hours on the Appalachian Trail that ended on a mountaintop in a hailstorm.
Still, for all of McConaughy’s endurance feats, he’d never raced a true 100-mile ultramarathon until July 21-22 when he took part in the 31st annual Vermont 100 in West Windsor, Vt. While the race itself was a new experience for McConaughy, the unforgiving conditions he endured during his FKT pursuits prepared him for the grueling weather he encountered on race day. The Vermont 100 is known for its heat – usually in the upper 80s by mid-afternoon – and sticky humidity, but the temperature reached 90 degrees by 11 a.m. on race morning and threatened triple digits by that afternoon. Continue reading McConaughy Handles the Heat, Places 2nd in 100-Mile Debut at VT100→
Most New England runners who spent the July 20-21 weekend racing did so at the Vermont 100, one of the sport’s original 100-mile footraces. So many did so, in fact, that we’ll have it covered in a separate writeup. Meanwhile, a handful of runners from the region headed West to tackle two of the country’s more challenging trail ultras – the Speedgoat 50K in Utah and the Tahoe Rim Trail 100-Mile Endurance Run in Nevada. Both of those races are covered in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Speedgoat and Tahoe 100→
For New England ultrarunners, the July 13-14 weekend was the calm before the storm, so to speak. That’s because it was one week before the Vermont 100, the classic 100-mile footrace that draws hundreds of runners from the region to race on what is almost always one of the hottest weekends of the year. For those not taking on Vermont 100, however, there were a few races that attracted runners from the region. Most notably, several took on the fixed-time track race at the Ethan Allen 24 in Bennington, Vt. Additionally, others headed West to California, Oregon and Idaho for tough races. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Ethan Allen, Mt. Hood, Peak, and Beaverhead→
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