When Katie Claiborne earned her first ultramarathon victory at the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s (BURCS) 2024 Vegan Power 50K, she already was a force to be reckoned with in the Northeast. Since making her ultra debut in 2021, she has had at least 13 ultra finishes to her credit and several podium finishes.

In addition to topping the female field and finishing second overall at Vegan Power, Claiborne capped a stellar 2024 with a top-10 finish at the Vermont 100.

Claiborne opened her 2025 season in February with a trip to Arizona for the highly competitive Black Canyon Ultras 100K. Of the 1,002 starters, 776 finished within the 20-hour time limit. Claiborne was 167th overall and 49th in the female field that saw some of the biggest names in the sport do battle. After taking on a massive field at Black Canyon, Claiborne returned to more intimate racing for her next event: the BURCS Free to Run Trail Races.

Free to Run is considered the BURCS’ hardest race, with lots of climbing on some of the toughest trails of Pittsfield State Forest. It’s the same venue where Claiborne won the Vegan Power 50K, but different trails. The event was created to support Free to Run, Inc., a nonprofit organization that seeks to empower women and girls in conflict areas through physical activity. After seven years as a 50-mile, marathon and half-marathon event, it changed formats in 2022 to offer 50K, 25K and 15K distances. using a figure eight-style, double-loop course spanning 15.5 miles. The 9-mile loop featured three major climbs and two mountain summits, while the 6.5-mile loop tossed in a few more climbs and some flowy singletrack. Those in the 50K complete both loops twice for 6,000 feet of climbing. That’s the distance Claiborne signed up for when she took part in the 10th edition of the event on Saturday, June 21, 2025.

Nineteen runners started the 50K race, and 18 ultimately finished – but the miles didn’t come easy for most of them. Claiborne went out fast and led nearly wire to wire. She hit the 9-mile loop first and opened up an 11-minute lead by the time she transitioned to the 6.5-mile loop. Her advantage continued to grow the rest of the way.

Claiborne, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y., closed out a dominant day by winning in 6:51:50. She set a female course record and posted the second-fastest time ever by any runner on the course, trailing only male record-holder John Kemp’s 5:59:27 effort from 2023.

A close race for second played out between the top two male runners and the second-fastest female. Steven Ockerbloom and Dina Androic were four minutes apart at the midway point, with David Harris three minutes behind. They justled positions a bit during the second trip through the course, but Ockerbloom held on and the 50-year-old from Granby, Conn., finished second overall and first in the male field in 7:38:28. Harris, 38, of Ballston Lake, N.Y., moved ahead of Androic during the late miles and finished third overall in 7:46:05. Androic, 43, of Brooklyn, N.Y., followed in fourth overall and second in the female field in 7:57:58. Her time was the third-fastest by a female in course history.

Nikolaos Tsamandouras, 41, of Acton, Mass., and Danielle Horan, 37, of Williston, Vt., were the third-place male and female finishers in 8:58:12 and 9:29:05, respectively.

Thirty-three runners completed the 25K race, and the top male, female and nonbinary runners all earned victories in their BURCS debuts. Aaron Lipskar, 49, of Bronx, N.Y., led all runners and was the top male in 3:09:26. Finishing second overall in their trail-running debut was 19-year-old Sophie Tournas-Hardt who was the nonbinary champion in 3:17:09. Male runner-up and BURCS veteran Stephen Foley, 53, of Pittsfield, Mass., was third in 3:23:44, while top female Rachel Berman, 25, of Chicago, Ill., placed fourth overall in 3:28:55.

Nick MacDonald, 24, of Dorchester, Mass., capped a successful trail-running debut by earning the third spot on the male podium and finishing fifth overall in 3:28:57. Julia Haddad, 23, of Somerville, Mass., and Tasha Whited, 44, of Bristol, R.I., joined Berman on the female podium in 3:57:14 and 4:11:46, respectively. It was Haddad’s first trail race while Berman, a frequent BURCS runner, earned her second straight Free to Run podium finish to go with a runner-up performance in the 50K in 2024.

The 15K race saw a course record fall following a close battle between Jacob Craigue and Jason Kaplan. Both were in close contact throughout and well ahead of the 23-runner field. Ultimately, both ran well under the previous male course record of 1:32:59 by Matthew Spaulding in 2023. Craigue, 27, of Melvin Village, N.H., earned the win in 1:25:01 while Kaplan, 43, of Boston, Mass., was seconds behind as the runner-up in 1:25:23. Mark Skillin, 62, of Fall River, Mass., was a distant third in 1:54:45. Sarah Bousquet, 43, of South Hadley, Mass., led the female field in 1:55:34, followed by Louisa Marsh, 46, of Tyringham, Mass., in 1:58:55, and Katy Evans, 47, of Williamstown, Mass., in 2:01:23. In the nonbinary field, just two seconds separated first and second place with Alex Goodfriend, 36, of Sunderland, Vt., finishing in 1:58:50 and Lindsey Klinge, 37, of Troy, N.Y., following in 1:58:52.