The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the 10th edition of the Free to Run Trail Races on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at Pittsfield State Forest in Pittsfield, Mass. This year’s event shifted from September to June, and it featured 50K, 25K and 15K distance opportunities on challenging singletrack trails.
Continue reading Results: BURCS Free to Run Trail RacesCategory Archives: BURCS
Uzzel Cruises to Victory at Inaugural Tails & Trails State Forest Run
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.
Continue reading Uzzel Cruises to Victory at Inaugural Tails & Trails State Forest RunResults: BURCS Tails & Trails State Forest Run
The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service played host to the inaugural Tails & Trails State Forest Run on Saturday, May 17, 2025, at Pittsfield State Forest. The event replaced Vegan Power in the BURCS Badass Trail Series, but it kept the same venue and offered 50K, 25K and 5-mile trail races.
Continue reading Results: BURCS Tails & Trails State Forest Run
200 is the New 100: Gonzalez-Kreisberg Redefines Ultra Endurance By Volunteering
Two hundred wasn’t the number Rebecca Gonzalez-Kreisberg had in mind for the 2024 ultrarunning season. Her heart was set on 152 – the precise number of miles she planned to run at the Notchview Ultra.
It was an ambitious milestone, but after earning her first 100-mile finish at the 72-hour event in 2023 she dared to dream even bigger. Unfortunately for her, the combination of a toe injury and upheaval at work halted her running ambitions before the season even began.
“Things were kind of falling apart,” Gonzalez-Kreisberg admitted. “That’s where the goal of 152 had to be put aside, because suddenly I was in no capacity between what was going on at work and what was going on with my physical body to be training. I spent a lot of that winter barely surviving in a lot of ways.”
“Luckily,” she added, “I’m totally on the other side now.”
How she dealt with the disappointment and weathered storm involved an extraordinary feat of a different type of endurance, one that called to mind the popular ultrarunning phrase “200 is the new 100” while also redefining it.
Continue reading 200 is the New 100: Gonzalez-Kreisberg Redefines Ultra Endurance By Volunteering
BURCS’ Free to Run Trail Races Test Runners in Series Finale
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.
Continue reading BURCS’ Free to Run Trail Races Test Runners in Series FinaleResults: BURCS Free to Run Trail Races
The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the ninth in-person edition of the Free to Run Trail Races on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, at Pittsfield State Forest in Pittsfield, Mass. Runners took on 50-mile and 50K ultramarathons or 25K and 15K sub-ultra distances on tough singletrack trails at an event that raised money for Free to Run, a non-profit organization that has the mission of improving the lives of women and girls in conflict regions through participation in physical activity.
Continue reading Results: BURCS Free to Run Trail Races
Runners Capitalize on Ideal Conditions, Log Big Miles at Jug End Loop Ultra
No matter the year, one thing is consistent at the Jug End Loop Ultra: the miles are hard-earned.
Continue reading Runners Capitalize on Ideal Conditions, Log Big Miles at Jug End Loop UltraResults: BURCS Jug End Loop Ultra
The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the ninth annual Jug End Loop Ultra on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024, at Jug End State Reservation in Egremont, Mass. Runners once again took on a 4.2-mile loop course for 6 hours, or completed a single-loop race. For those in the 6-hour event, they shifted from the main course to a 0.88-mile mini loop for the final hour.
Continue reading Results: BURCS Jug End Loop Ultra
First-Timer is Fastest, But Familiar Faces Abound at Sweltering Summer
Events put on by the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) are known for their family reunion-type vibes. That was the case once again when the BURCS played host to the Sweltering Summer 8-Hour Ultra on Saturday, Aug. 10, at Clapp Park in Pittsfield, Mass., where familiar faces were aplenty – though it was an event newcomer who ran away with the overall victory at the 12th annual event.
Continue reading First-Timer is Fastest, But Familiar Faces Abound at Sweltering SummerResults: BURCS Sweltering Summer 8-Hour Ultra
The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the 12th annual Sweltering Summer 8-Hour Ultra and 5K on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, at Clapp Park in Pittsfield, Mass. Runners had eight hours to complete as many .355-mile laps of the park’s dirt and cinder track as they wanted.
Continue reading Results: BURCS Sweltering Summer 8-Hour Ultra
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