A busy October of ultrarunning continued during the Oct. 9-11 weekend with five ultras in New England and runners from the region traveling to at least 15 more across the country, including the Moab 240 in Utah which was canceled partway through as heavy rains and dangerous course conditions made parts of the course impassable. We will highlight both the Midstate Massive Ultra Trail and the Village Ultra from Massachusetts in separate recaps, but here in the roundup we have as much covered as possible from the other events. That starts with the inaugural Downeast Trail Festival in Maine, followed by the always tough Devil’s Den Ultra in Vermont.

October opened with four ultras in New England, as well as with runners from the region at nearly two-dozen ultras across the country taking on distances ranging from barely beyond a marathon to well beyond 200 miles. We have many of them covered in this edition of the roundup, but we lead off with a recap from a stunning battle at Bubba’s Backyard Ultra that required the weekend plus bonus time to determine a winner.

What was slated to be a busy closing weekend of September became a relatively quiet one in New England, save for the howl of the wind and the pattering of rain. A nor’easter rolled into the region and forced the cancellation of three New England ultras during the Sept. 25-27 weekend, including both the MetroWest Backyard Ultra and Race for the Refuge in Massachusetts and the Farm to Farm Ultra in Maine. Only the historic Vermont 50 took place on a rain soaked-weekend in West Windsor, Vt. For many New Englanders who made it to the starting line, the weather meant leaving the region for more accommodating weather conditions. We have some of those efforts covered–as well as the Vermont 50–in this edition of the roundup.

New Englanders had a big weekend of ultra racing from Sept. 18-20, scattering across the country to earn finishes from 50K to 108 miles. That included the rugged Kilkenny Ridge Trail Race in New Hampshire, as well as the Wild Goose Trail Festival in New Jersey where Maine’s Jennifer Whynot logged more miles than anyone, as well some hard-earned 100-mile finishes in the West.

The Sept. 11-13 weekend was the busiest of the year for ultramarathons in New England with seven ultra events taking place throughout the region. Though none were held in Massachusetts, Vermont or Rhode Island, three took place in New Hampshire, two were held in Connecticut and two more in Maine. Additionally, New Englanders took part in at least nine other ultras throughout North America. Results from some of the events were not available at the time of publication, but we have many of them covered in this edition of the roundup.