The April 15-16 weekend was so busy for New England ultrarunners that it merited two roundups. Yesterday’s roundup featured notable performances at the Traprock 50K in Connecticut and the Runamuck 50K in Vermont. Today’s roundup highlights New England ultrarunners’ performances at ultras beyond the region, from Virginia to Arizona, and New York to Alabama, with Westfield, Mass., resident Zach Medeiros’ podium finish at the James River Trail Runs leading off.

It’s mid-April and not only is the weather heating up, but so is the ultrarunning calendar. For New England ultrarunners, that meant April 15-16 was a jam-packed weekend – so busy, in fact, that it merits two roundups. Here in part one we highlight the races that took place here in the region, where Massachusetts residents Matt Pacheco and Kehr Davis earned victories at the grueling Traprock 50K in Connecticut and Bay Stater Mead Binhammer and Vermont’s Dylan Broderick earned victories at the Runamuck 50K in Vermont.

The Massachusetts ultrarunning schedule began its April ramp-up during the April 8-9 weekend as Amy Rusiecki’s Beast Coast Trail Running Series kicked off with the annual Mt. Toby 50K Ultra and 24K trail races. More than 150 runners took part in the two distances. Still, several New England ultrarunners ventured beyond the Bay State to race during the weekend – including a pair who made their ultra debuts out west. Sam Randall of Amherst, Mass., burst onto the ultra scene with a top-10 performance at the Diablo Trails Challenge 50K in California, and Uyenphuong Nguyen of Cambridge, Mass., battled for a hard-earned finish at the scenic and tough Smith Rock Ascent 50K in Oregon. Additionally, a number of other runners from the region flocked to Bear Mountain, N.Y., for the second annual Big Bear Squatch North. We’ve got them all covered in this edition of the roundup.