Tag Archives: BURCS

Free to Run Trail Races Return with New Course, Distances

After months of anticipation, registration for the Free to Run Trail Races opened on Saturday, May 27, on UltraSignup. The event, which has been a staple of the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s BURCS Badass Race Series since 2015, returns with a few new features for 2023.

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From the Editor’s Desk: Celebrating the Silliness

For around 90 minutes, I perched halfway up the hill below Wright’s Tower and clicked away with my Nikon D90 camera as runners came toward me in both directions. Some danced down the hill, navigating its tangled web of tree roots while others dug deep and made the steep, rocky march upward.

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BURCS’ Free to Run Trail Races Return at Pivotal Moment, Amass Large Donation to FTR

When the United States military and NATO forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021 and the Taliban returned to power, the country was thrown into turmoil as its new leadership set about rolling back all sorts of rights people had gained and enjoyed in years prior. No group was more targeted than women and girls, as the Taliban sought to deny them access to education, freedom of expression and movement, and so much more. In a very real way the Taliban sought to deny women and girls their own identities.

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Results: BURCS Free to Run Trail Races

Following two years of virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) welcomed back runners for in-person racing at the eighth annual (and sixth in-person) Free to Run Trail Races on Saturday, Sept. 17, at Pittsfield State Forest in Pittsfield, Mass. Runners once again took on 50-mile, marathon or half-marathon distances on a 12.5-mile technical trail loop course with plenty of climbing.

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Jug End Returns to Full In-Person Racing After 2 Years of Virtual/Hybrid Format

Race Director Benn Griffin sought creative solutions to keep the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s Jug End Loop Ultra going during the COVID-19 disruption and continue raising funds for the causes the race supports.

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Big-Time Performances Abound at Notchview Ultra

Where to begin with the 2022 edition of the Notchview Ultra? Two women surpassing the 200-mile mark in the 72-hour race? A 13-year-old running 100 miles? An assortment of runners carrying a watermelon around the course for 74 miles? All of that and more played out at the seventh running of the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s Notchview Ultra on July 8-10 at Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Mass.

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