For most of the past 11 years, the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service has kicked off its BURCS Trail Series with the Vegan Power Trail Races at Pittsfield State Forest. For 2025, the BURCS decided to shake things up. They shelved Vegan Power, but maintained the event’s beneficiary and added a few more for a brand new event at Pittsfield State Forest: the Tails & Trails State Forest Run.

The new event felt much like its predecessor, with the same venue and 50K, 25K and 5-mile distances. It also used similar rolling singletrack trails with occasional rocks and roots, rather than the big climbs that make the BURCS other event at the state forest – the Free to Run Trail Races – so daunting. It also welcomed back plenty of familiar faces that have been mainstays at the BURCS Race Series in recent years, as well as a few newcomers who made their mark at the inaugural event on Saturday, May 17, in Pittsfield, Mass.

Twenty-three runners gathered for the start of the 50K race. It was cloudy and humid, with thunderstorms in the vicinity but not over the state forest. Sunny skies and mid-70s temperatures eventually rewarded the runners as the day went along. Ultimately, 19 of successfully completed all six trips through the 5.3-mile loop course, amassing around 2,300 feet of climbing by the time they were done.

Nobody had a stronger day of running than Jeffrey Uzzel. The 39-year-old from Easthampton, Mass., has made a big impact during a short time at BURCS races, but this was his finest performance yet. Uzzel made his BURCS debut in 2024 when he finished second overall in the Vegan Power 50K. A month later, he finished third in the 6-hour race at the Notchview Ultra before adding a runner-up finish at the Jug End Loop Ultra 6-hour. After three podium finishes, Uzzel ascended to the top at Tails & Trails.

He started fast and led the race for the majority of the day, ultimately cruising to victory by nearly an hour in 4:47:18. BURCS regular Johnny Bontemps, 41, of Beckett, Mass., was a distant second in 5:55:58, followed by 24-year-old Max Sulik of Otis, Mass., who finished third in 6:11:32. It was Sulik’s second ultra; his first came last fall at Pittsfield State Forest when he finished seventh at the Free to Run 50K. Just 12 minutes separated fourth through seventh place, with 26-year-old Leo Litovsky of Ganesvoort, N.Y., placing fourth in 6:20:06; 39-year-old Ethan Dziedzinski of Bondsville, Mass., fifth in 6:26:53; 34-year-old Ethan Van Valen of Schoharie, N.Y., sixth in 6:30:32; and 36-year-old Shamba Mukherjee of Taunton, Mass., seventh in 6:32:27.

While the male field saw a runaway champion, the female and nonbinary fields came down to the wire. Samantha Slattery, Tania Spicer and Daria Cunningham were within striking distance of each other in the final miles, with Spicer leading the nonbinary field and Slattery and Cunningham dueling atop the female field. All three runners pushed hard, but Slattery, 37, of Castleton, N.Y., was the first to the finish line, placing eight overall and first in the female field in 7:03:04. Spicer was next to finish; the 31-year-old from Petersburgh, N.Y., placed ninth overall and first in the nonbinary division in 7:04:58. Cunningham, 48, of Lunenburg, Mass., closed out the overall top 10 and finished as the female runner-up in 7:13:41. Peggy Edwards, 50, of Ledyard, Conn., closed out the female podium as a distant third in 7:47:49.

Twenty-three runners completed the three-loop, 25K race. Gabriel Paul, 32, of Trumbull, Conn., earned the overall victory with a 10-minute cushion in 2:19:11. A former New Mexico resident, it was Paul’s first victory at a trail run since winning the Deadman Peaks 30K in 2022. Jean-Claude Paul, 61, of Newton, Mass., was the runner-up in 2:29:39, and 50-year-old John Ratzan of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., completed the male podium in 2:44:20. Hot on Ratzan’s heels was female champion Ellen Jopling, 30, of Melrose, Mass., who crossed the finish line in 2:44:25. It was Jopling’s first trail race. She will make her ultramarathon debut later this year at the Dead Horse Ultra 50K in Moab, Utah. Jopling was joined on the podium by Laura Stephen and Sharon Czako. Stephen, 61, of Brooklyn, N.Y., finished in 2:51:10, followed by Czako, 38, of Plainville, Conn., in 3:07:23. 

Additionally, 12 runners completed the single-loop, 5-mile race. After finishing fourth at the Vegan Power 5-miler in 2024, 12-year-old Micah Silverman of Westford, Mass., took the overall win in 50:13. Top female Ashley Scherben, 39, of Pittsfield, Mass., was second in 56:39, and female runner-up Heidi Mendoza, 50, of Watertown, Mass., was third in 1:00:46. Nonbinary champion Alex Goodfriend, 36, of Sunderland, Vt., was a close fourth overall in 1:01:25.

Up Next In the BURCS Trail Series: The BURCS Trail Series resumes with the Free to Run Trail Races on Saturday, June 21, at Pittsfield State Forest. The event used to close out the race series, but it moved to the second spot in the lineup this year. It will once again offer 50K 25K and 15K distances on a much hillier course.