The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) offers runners a smorgasbord of variety during its annual BURCS Badass Race Series, bookending with races at the same venue that offer wildly different experiences.

The series opens at Pittsfield State Forest where runners take on rolling singletrack trails at the Vegan Power 50K. Then they move on to Windsor to run a 1.9-mile cross-country ski loop at Notchview Reservation during the Notchview Ultra for anywhere from 6 hours to 72 hours. Runners recover by returning to Pittsfield to do loops around Clapp Park for 8 hours on a .355-mile cinder track. From there, the series moves to Egremont where runners take on a short, grassy loop through an orchard as well as an occasionally technical climb and long, winding descent on a loop trail at Jug End State Park.

The climbing at Jug End is a final tune-up before the series returns once again to Pittsfield State Forest for the Badass Race Series grand finale: the Free to Run Trail Races. Whereas Vegan Power offered a friendly introduction to the forest’s trail system, Free to Run is a final exam that challenges runners to conquer one of the most difficult courses in Massachusetts.

Nearly 60 runners toed the starting line of the ninth in-person running of the event on Saturday, Sept. 14, be it in the 50-mile and 50K ultramarathons or the 25K and 15K offerings.

Just seven runners attempted the 50-miler this year. Big climbs and strict cutoffs made for formidable obstacles for each of the runners as they attempted to complete three trips through the figure-eight-style double-loop course, along with an additional climb up Lulu Brook, earning around 10,000 feet of elevation gain by the time they finished … speaking of which, only three runners finished the 50-miler.

The cutoffs and terrain took their toll on the field as the day progressed. Though he was running just his second ultra, Adam Beer handled the course the fastest. The 37-year-old from Ware, Mass., made his ultra debut in April at the Tri-State New Jersey Spartan Ultra 50K. Free to Run was his first 50-miler, first BURCS race, and also his first victory as he won in 12:35:48. Dan Knauss also made his BURCS debut and 50-mile debut, and he placed second in 13:23:21. Knauss will look to parlay his performance at Free to Run into a finish at the Midstate Massive Ultra-Trail 100-miler in October.

The final finisher and female champion was Lauren Edelman. The 44-year-old from Bridgeport, Conn., completed the race last year, so she knew what she was getting herself into. Edelman completed her first 100-miler – the Pistol 100 in Tennessee – in March, but she also ran the Cross-Connecticut Run for Mental Health Awareness 56-miler on Sept. 7. Back-to-back weekends of running races 50 miles or longer was a whopping double, but Edelman got it done on tired legs in 14:18:18.

The event’s other ultra distance – the 50K – was offered for just the second time. Seventeen runners started the race, and 14 successfully completed two full trips through the course and 6,000 feet of climbing.

John Dewolf, 36, of Pittsfield, Mass., led the race nearly wire to wire and cruised to the victory in 7:05:29. After sitting outside the top five during the first 10 miles, Eric Dziedzinski began picking his way through the field and ultimately passed Matt Schlosser during the final miles. That late pass allowed Dziedzinski, 38, of Bondsville, Mass., to finish second overall in 7:53:00. Schlosser, 31, of Oriskany, N.Y., was a close third in 7:56:52. After spending much of the day in the top three, 43-year-old Jared Pare of Feeding Hills, Mass., finished fourth in 8:00:12. Pare held off 45-year-old Noah Haidle of North Adams, Mass., who was a close fifth in 800:28.

In the women’s field, a pair of runners making their BURCS debuts went 1-2. Stephanie Sibille, 38, of Granby, Conn., led for most of the day and won in 8:48:54. Tasha Whited, 43, of Marstons Mills, Mass., was second in 9:20:25.

The sub-ultra distances had the largest fields of runners, with 22 runners starting and completing the 25K and another 12 in the 15K.

In the 24K race, 47-year-old Lewis McCulloch of Arlington, Mass., navigated the course and its 3,000 feet of climbing faster than anyone else and won in 2:47:42. It was McCulloch’s first time running Free to Run since 2019. Tom Jorgenson, 35, of Pittsfield, Mass., was second in 2:55:15, and 22-year-old Sophie Rexrode of Boston, Mass., was third overall in 259:33. Rexrode also topped the nonbinary field. Laura Stephen, 60, of Brooklyn, N.Y., topped the female field and placed seventh overall in 3:22:40. Stephen last raced at Free to Run in 2018. Taylor Lucey, 35, of Amherst, Mass., was the runner-up in her BURCS debut in 3:31:52.

In the 15K race, 10-year-old Conrad Davis of Amherst, Mass., earned the overall victory in 1:51:05, four seconds ahead of his father, 42-year-old ultrarunning veteran Jeff Davis. Marlie Nally, 31, of Ballston Spa, N.Y., was fourth overall and first place in the female field in 2:01:11.