The Village Ultra always values the mission more than the miles, though the miles certainly are a special part.

Organized by Carla Halpern and Nancy Mead as a non-competitive, choose-your-own-course, pace and distance event, The Village Ultra (TVU) invites runners and walkers to bring a big heart and a positive attitude while supporting a worthy cause. The cause has changed from year to year – the inaugural event raised funds to support a family with a child needing medical treatment for Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, and other years have supported a local school, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, the Trevor Project, and a dance scholarship fund honoring the memory of an 8-year-old girl who died in a house fire – but the goal is always the same: use running as a platform to make a positive impact.

The ninth edition of The Village Ultra took place from 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, through 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, on the New Salem Town Common in New Salem, Mass., and runners and walkers once again gathered to amass miles and money for this year’s mission: raising funds to support the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA).

“We chose MIRA as our donee because our current national administration has scapegoated people who have done nothing but seek better and safer lives for themselves and their families,” Halpern explained. “We at TVU unequivocally stand with immigrants and refugees and in opposition to targeting and scapegoating people based on color, language, religion, national origin, or immigration status.”

The event raised nearly $1,500 for MIRA. People interested in donating to support the organization can do so here.

As is TVU tradition, runners crafted their own course by stringing together a variety of mini-loops, collecting colored beads along the way to track their mileage. The Gold Loop was the longest and featured the most vertical gain as runners completed an out-and-back trip down and back up a mostly paved hill for 2.4 miles. The Silver Loop measured 2.2 miles and took runners out and back on a mostly dirt and gravel road past an apple orchard. The 0.6-mile Blue Loop offered a mix of trail, grassy soccer field, and a pass through the local cemetery. The 0.25-mile White Loop circled the scenic Town Common. Two additional beads were offered for short trips to the bathroom (0.1-mile, Yellow Loop) and the New Salem General Store (0.2-mile, Green Loop).

Thirteen runners logged miles at this year’s event, and six amassed ultramarathon mileage. Halpern had the biggest weekend, earning a long, colorful lanyard of beads for her 52.5-mile effort as a final tune-up weekend before running the Mount Desert Island Marathon in Maine. She wasn’t the only Halpern to hammer out an ultra, however. Her sister, Kay Halpern, had never run farther than a half marathon prior to TVU but smashed that mark by completing 32.8 miles at TVU for an ultramarathon finish. Making the weekend even more special, she celebrated her 37th wedding anniversary with husband Len Rickman. Though he didn’t run an ultra, Rickman delivered an impressive endurance feat of his own. On the third anniversary of receiving a donor kidney, he completed 21.5 miles.

Joining the Halpern sisters in earning ultramarathon finishes were Dietmar and Adriana Bago, Su Hoyle and Benn Griffin. Hoyle’s first ultra came at TVU in 2022. Hoyle has run an ultra each year since, including a personal-best 33.1-mile effort this year.

Dietmar and Adriana Bago brought good cheer and big miles to TVU. Regulars at ultramarathons across the Commonwealth, they spend part of the year living in Romania and part of the year living in Massachusetts. They brought tasty snacks, including Romanian brandy chocolates, to share with their fellow runners, and they each cranked out an ultra. Dietmar ran 36.7 miles and Adriana completed 31.7 miles.

Though he is most well known for directing numerous trail ultramarathons with the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service, Griffin is also known as a TVU regular, showing up at night to hammer out his miles. This year he rounded out the group who completed ultramarathon mileage with a 31.6-mile effort.

Several other TVU regulars also ran miles in support of MIRA. Ann Van Dyke completed 17.9 miles, Mead finished 17.0 miles, Heidi Bohn and Sarah Vular logged 3.3 miles apiece, Heather Rogers Murphy ran 2.2 miles, and Rachel Roy added 2.1 miles.