BURCS

More Time, More Miles at BURCS Summer Fat Ass

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Demand for big mileage opportunities has grown in western Massachusetts in recent years, and the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) responded first with the expansion of its BURCS Badass Race Series to include additional events, and then this year with time extensions for the organization’s annual Summer Fat Ass Run.

The Summer Fat Ass was a six-hour event during its first two years, and last year both runners and organizers discussed the possibility of doubling – and maybe even quadrupling – the time limit so runners could try to achieve 50- and 100-mile goals. That conversation laid the foundation for the third annual Summer Fat Ass, which expanded into a two-day affair on July 8-9 at Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Mass. In addition to the standard six-hour event, runners could also choose to run for 12 hours or 24 hours. The result was that dozens of new faces turned out for the event, and many people set personal milestones, all of which pleased race director Benn Griffin. Continue reading More Time, More Miles at BURCS Summer Fat Ass →

Roundup

MassUltra Roundup: IAU 24-Hour World Championships

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Massachusetts was represented on the world stage at the International Association of Ultrarunners’ 24-Hour World Championships on July 1-2 in Belfast, Ireland.

Cambridge resident Jenny Hoffman was one of seven women who represented the United States at the World Championships as a member of the US National 24-Hour Running Team. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: IAU 24-Hour World Championships →

BURCS

Fresh Faces, Fast Times at Vegan Power 50K

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Course record-holders Jason Mintz of Syracuse, N.Y., and Laura Kline of New Paltz, N.Y., were absent from this year’s Vegan Power 50K with Mintz racing the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run and Kline serving as his pacer. Additionally, 2016 women’s champion Samantha LeBlanc of Woburn, Mass., took part in the relay portion of Vegan Power. That left the door open for new faces to contend for first-place finishes.

New champions emerged, and it was a tale of two races at the fourth annual Vegan Power 50K as the men’s field featured a runaway winner and the women’s field produced a close battle for the podium positions on Saturday, June 17, at Pittsfield State Forest in Pittsfield, Mass. Continue reading Fresh Faces, Fast Times at Vegan Power 50K →

Cape Cod

New Solo, Relay 50-Miler Coming to Cape Cod

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A new solo ultramarathon and team relay is coming to Massachusetts this fall. The Fall 50 will make its Bay State debut on Saturday, September 30, on Cape Cod.

Runners have the option of running 50 miles solo or forming teams of between two and five runners to cover the distance from Wellfleet to Barnstable. Continue reading New Solo, Relay 50-Miler Coming to Cape Cod →

Roundup

MassUltra Roundup: Catamount, Bay of Fundy, and Bryce

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Massachusetts ultrarunners didn’t have to venture far from home to race on June 24-25 – well … other than the lucky few who got to run Western States (that’ll be included in another article) – because the Catamount Ultra 50K in Vermont and the inaugural 50K at the Bay of Fundy Marathon in Maine took place last weekend. Massachusetts residents won both of those races. Additionally, we tracked down results from the Bryce 50K on June 17 in Utah to round out this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Catamount, Bay of Fundy, and Bryce →

Features

Massachusetts Trio Set to Take on Western States

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As folks in Massachusetts are sipping their coffee on Saturday morning and finishing breakfast before heading out for a weekend long run, there’s a good chance some will be logged onto UltraLive.net and looking intently for the first few nuggets of information about the Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run.

The 44th running of the Western States 100 begins at 5 a.m. PST (8 a.m. EDT) Saturday, June 24, and runners have 30 hours to complete the 100.2-mile journey from Squaw Valley to Auburn, Calif., in ultrarunning’s original 100-mile trail footrace. Runners will climb more than 18,000 feet and descend more than 23,000 feet during the course of the race.

Three Massachusetts residents will be among the 369 runners to toe the starting line in what is expected to be a highly competitive year overall, and arguably the deepest women’s field in the history of the race. Continue reading Massachusetts Trio Set to Take on Western States →

Roundup

MassUltra Roundup: Manitou’s Revenge, Bighorn, the Broken Arrow Skyrace, Drummer Hill, and Infinitus

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Ben Nephew and Kehr Davis threw down strong performances en route to victories at Manitou’s Revenge in New York; Joseph D’Alessio, Christopher Agbay and Dane LeBlanc overcame freezing rain and massive quantities of mud to complete the Bighorn 100 in Wyoming; Michael Barrett conquered the grueling Broken Arrow Skyrace in California; and we tracked down older results from Drummer Hill in New Hampshire and Infinitus in Vermont in this week’s roundup. Continue reading MassUltra Roundup: Manitou’s Revenge, Bighorn, the Broken Arrow Skyrace, Drummer Hill, and Infinitus →

Going beyond the marathon in Massachusetts