For the first two years of its existence, the Notchview Ultra was a 6-hour fatass-style event where the top mileage tallies were in the mid-30s. When the event added 12- and 24-hour options for 2017 and 2018, Dietmar Bago was the standard setter with 91.2 miles each time in the event’s longest offering.

In 2019, the Notchview Ultra entered new territory as race director Benn Griffin expanded the format into a multi-day distance fest that included a 72-hour race. In doing so, Griffin dared runners to dream of the endurance possibilities and discover what was possible on the 1.9-mile cross country ski loop at Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Mass. Ann Alessandrini was the first to set her sights on 200 miles, and she blasted through the distance barrier in the final hour to close out a 201.4-mile effort. It was the first time a runner would surpass 200 miles at Notchview, but not the last.

In the years since Alessandrini broke the 200-mile barrier, seven other runners have done so. Alessandrini did it again in 2022 with a 203.3-mile performance that was good for second place behind Taylor Verville’s 216.6-mile masterpiece.

At the 10th edition of the Notchview Ultra on July 11-14, four runners surpassed the 200-mile mark, a Notchview record for a single year. Alessandrini wasn’t among them – she completed a stellar 174.8 miles – but she made more Notchview history. Griffin diligently maintains a spreadsheet of all-time stats for the more than 650 individual runners who have taken part in the event, and Alessandrini, 65, of Johnsonville, N.Y., became the first to surpass 1,000 lifetime miles at Notchview. Her 92nd and final lap this year pushed her over the mark to 1,001.3 career miles on the loop. For some perspective, that adds up to 527 laps of the Notchview course.

Alessandrini is the first inductee into the 1,000-mile club at Notchview, but she likely won’t be the last. George Alexion is knocking on the door. Alexion, 66, of Waterboro, Maine, was second all-time with 839.8 career miles following a 142.5-mile performance this year. Jeremy Shafer, 48, of Tolland, Mass., has two 200+-mile performances at Notchview and is third all-time with 798.0 miles following a 153.9-mile effort this year that topped all runners in the 48-hour race.

A few more runners are also getting close. Robert Breckenridge missed this year’s event, but the 54-year-old from Keene, N.H., sits fourth all-time with 794.2 miles. Verville, 34, of Kingston, Mass., is fifth with 777.1 miles, including a 184.3-mile showing in this year’s 72-hour race that topped the female field and was fifth overall. Verville holds the female course record with 237.5 miles in 2023. Jessie Makela, 41, of Stafford Springs, Conn., and Trishul Cherns, 68, of Kingston, N.Y., are the final runners with more than 700 career miles at Notchview. Makela has 750.5 all-time miles, including 136.8 in this year’s 72-hour race, while Cherns has 737.2 all-time miles, including 125.4 miles in this year’s 48-hour race which was good for fourth place.

While Alessandrini set an all-time mileage standard on the Notchview loop, Brian Papay set a single-year standard with his dominant performance in the 72-hour race. Papay previously won the 72-hour race in his Notchview debut in 2024 with a 226.1 -mile performance. This year he returned and upped his output significantly. Papay, 44, of Valley City, Ohio, cranked out a record 250.8 miles, smashing his own course record.

Michael Lo Presti, 54, of Norfolk, Conn., also had a massive weekend. In his third Notchview appearance, Lo Presti broke the 100-mile mark for the first time and went on to break the 200-mile mark, finishing in second overall with 216.6 miles. Caleb Duran, 33, of Wallkill, N.Y., finished third with 212.8 miles, eclipsing the 188.1 miles that he completed in 2024 when he finished fourth. Rounding out the 200-mile finishers was Shane McNally, 45, of Everett, Mass., who capped a sensational Notchview debut with 201.4 miles.

In the female field, Verville led the way with 184.3 miles. It’s the fourth time in four years that she has significantly eclipsed the 100-mile mark. In second place, 41-year-old Erin Deberardinis of Monroe, N.C., built upon the 155.8 miles she completed in 2024 at her Notchview debut by hammering out 182.4 miles this year. Alessandrini was third with 174.8 miles.

Eighty-seven runners logged miles in the 72-hour race, ranging in age from 3 years old (Henry Alessandrini, 7.6 miles) to 90 years old (Eugene Bruckert, 51.3 miles). Seventy-eight runners completed at least 50 miles, 61 runners eclipsed the 100-mile mark, and 22 runners logged 150 miles or more. Included among the 150+-mile finishers were Notchview regulars and grandfather-granddaughter duo Stephen Westbrook, 62, and Abigail Gilley, 14, of North Waterboro, Maine, who ran together and finished 153.9 miles apiece. Two years ago, they completed 100.7 miles together.

Shafer is First to 150+ in 48-Hour Ultra

Jeremy Shafer has amassed a storied career at the Notchview Ultra. It was the first place he ran 100 miles, doing so in 2019 when he won the event’s Quadzilla race, requiring runners to complete four 52K runs within 72 hours for 129.2 miles. Three years later, he returned and finished second in the 100.7-mile race in 25:02:28. In 2023 and 2024, he dazzled with a pair of 200+-mile efforts, 212.8 in 2023 and 201.4 in 2024, placing second overall both times. This year, he took his first crack at the 48-hour event and turned in another memorable weekend. Shafer became the first runner to break the 150-mile mark in the event, finishing first overall with a course record 153.9 miles.

Shafer, 46, of Tolland, Mass., topped a field of 33 runners, 14 of whom completed 100 miles or more. Ryan Hanna, 26, of West Hatfield, Mass., was second overall with 131.1 miles, and 24-year-old Matthew Ford of Clarks Summit, Pa., finished third with 127.3 miles, one lap ahead of 68-year-old Trishul Cherns of Kingston, N.Y., who finished with 125.4 miles.

Top female Daria Cunningham, 49, of Lunenburg, Mass., also had a memorable weekend of racing, finishing fifth overall and first in the female field with 119.7 miles. Her mileage tally ranks sixth all-time. She completed 102.6 miles in the 72-hour race in 2024. Jennifer Nappilanutter, 50, of Lunenburg, Mass., was second with 106.4 miles, followed by Bonnie Foley, 44, of Princeton, Mass., and Edith St-Amant, 47, of Sherbrooke, Quebec, with 100.7 miles apiece.

Niebla, Gordon Set New Standards for Notchview 100.7-Mile Race

Only one of Notchview’s six races is eligible for a DNF: the 100.7-miler. The lone distance-specific event gives runners a 72-hour time limit to complete the distance, but unlike those in the time-based race the 100.7-milers don’t get credit for however many laps they complete. They must complete 53 laps; it’s all or nothing.

Thirty-three runners started the race, and 21 finished – all doing so in 60 hours or less. A few of them pushed the pace hard, and the result of the effort was new male and female course records. Benjamin Niebla followed up his fourth-place finish at the Riverlands 100-miler in May by setting a personal-best time at Notchview in 19:44:43. His effort broke Samuel Dybdahl’s previous record of 20:34 from 2022 by 50 minutes.

Michael Martinez, 46, of Manchester, N.H., was second in 21:49:45, good for the fourth-fastest time in event history. Martinez finished third in the 72-hour race in 2024 with 191.9 miles. John Dobias, 45, of Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., was third in 22:55:23.

While Niebla toppled the male course record, Kimberly Gordon did the same to the female record board. The 43-year-old from Holden, Mass., finished fourth overall and broke the female course record by 2 1/2 hours with her time of 25:01:27. Tek Ung, 43, of Cranston, R.I., was second in 30:44:45, and 52-year-old Aleida Gage of Leominster, Mass., finished third in 32:24:45.

Stawski’s 100-Mile Effort Tops 24-Hour Race

David Stawski has been putting up some big numbers this year. His 2025 season so far includes 100-mile finishes at the Winter Beast of Burden in January, 100 miles in the virtual Snow Moon 24-Hour Challenge in February, a seventh-place finish at the Rabid Raccoon 100 in March, and a sub-22-hour finish at the C&O Canal 100 in April. In May, he finished 100 miles at the Chesterfield Gorge Ultra, and then in June he logged 103.2 miles at the Centurion Ultra Trail Event. Stawski kept his monthly 100-mile streak alive in July when he was the lone runner out of 18 to complete 53 laps and 100.7 miles in the 24-hour race at Notchview.

Keith Bourassa, 41, of Keene, N.H., was second with 93.1 miles, followed by top female performers Lynnsey Martin, 27, of Cambridge, Mass., and Jocelyn Ryan-Small, 34, of New Haven, Conn., with 89.3 and 81.7 miles apiece. Noah Haidle, 46, of North Adams, Mass., and Nicolle Quinn, 50, of Beverly, Mass., were the third-place male and female finishers with 76.0 miles and 64.6 miles apiece.

Pacheco Sizzles to 12-Hour Record

A year ago, Lila Gaudrault took a wrecking ball to the 12-hour record board at the Notchview Ultra with her 72.2-mile effort that secured the top spot all-time by a male or female runner. She set a high standard, but Matt Pacheco accepted the challenge to go after it. The 40-year-old from South Hadley, Mass., pushed hard throughout his half-day on the Notchview loop and ultimately eclipsed Gaudrault’s mark by two loops with a 76.0-mile performance. In addition to the top all-time effort, he broke Durgesh Mankekar’s male course record of 68.4 miles from 2024. Robert Alves, 46, of Groton, Conn., and Andy Keegan, 68, of Birdsboro, Pa., were the second- and third-place men with 51.3 miles and 41.8 miles apiece.

While Pacheco dominated the male field, Mari Engelhardt controlled the female field and won while placing second overall with 58.9 miles. For Engelhardt, 46, of Marshfield, Mass., the performance tied for the second-best effort ever by a female on the course, matching Emily Kisicki’s 2021 performance. Amanda Sbriscia, 41, of Granby, Mass., was second with 51.3 miles, followed by 58-year-old Cheryl Crawford of Kingston, Mass., with 47.5 miles, and Anne Marie Winchester, 58, of Duxbury, Mass., with 45.6 miles.

Thirty-eight runners logged mileage in the 12-hour race, including 23 who surpassed the 30-mile mark. Top nonbinary runner Donovan Snyder, 30, of Dalton, Mass., completed 34.2 miles and finished 14th overall.

Kaplan Ties Course Record in 6-Hour Victory

Jason Kaplan has raced constantly during the past few years, but one place the 43-year-old Boston resident hadn’t raced was Notchview. That changed this year when he stepped to the starting line of the 6-hour race alongside 34 other runners. By the end of the day, he tied the male course record with 38.0 miles, matching Byron Lane’s effort from 2019. Chris Loftus, 51, of Hudson, Mass., and Mark Howard, 42, of North Providence, R.I., were second and third with 34.2 miles apiece. Matthew McDermid, 28, of Somerville, Mass., followed in fourth place with 32.3 miles.

In the female field, 29-year-old Sarah Brenner of Cambridge, Mass., edged 47-year-old Jacquelyn Gorski of Warwick, R.I., on the clock, but they tied for mileage with 30.4 miles apiece. Laura Ruttle-Miller, 34, of Keene, N.H., was a lap behind in third with 28.5 miles.