Tag Archives: BURCS

Results: 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.

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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.

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Results: 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.

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Results: 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.

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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.

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Results: 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.

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‘Magic’ Moments Abound at 2024 Notchview Ultra

WINDSOR, Mass. – Moments after concluding her 64.6-mile effort at the Notchview Ultra, Kimberly Boisvert walked to the Race Headquarters pop-up tent and chatted away with Race Director Benn Griffin and volunteer Mark Bancroft about her experience during the previous 26 hours.

Race Director Benn Griffin, left, and volunteers Mark Bancroft and Rebecca Gonzalez-Kreisberg relax in the shade while cheering on runners during the Notchview Ultra. Photo by Chris Wristen/MassUltra

It was Sunday afternoon and Boisvert was ending her 48-hour race early, but she had loved every moment of her time on the 1.9-mile cross-country ski loop through Notchview Reservation. The event began at noon Friday, July 12, and would conclude at noon Monday, July 15. Boisvert had missed the 12-hour racers who were already finished, but she’d shared some time and miles with her fellow 48-hour racers, as well as some of the runners in the 72-hour, 24-hour and 6-hour races, and a few remaining in the event’s lone distance-specific race, the 100.7-miler. She had run under the stars on a clear night, and endured the heat and humidity of parts of two sun-soaked days. She had logged major miles and shared many stories and laughs with her fellow runners. If the ear-to-ear smile she wore was any indication, she’d loved every second of it.

“This place is magic!” Boisvert exclaimed to Griffin and Bancroft, summing up her experience.

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Photos: 2024 Notchview Ultra

The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the ninth edition of the Notchview Ultra on July 12-15, 2024, at Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Mass. Runners took on a distance-specific 100.7-mile race or time-based 72-hour, 48-hour, 24-hour, 12-hour and 6-hour ultras on a 1.9-mile cross-country ski loop course. The following is a small sample of photos taken by MassUltra Editor Chris Wristen. A larger gallery can be viewed on the MassUltra Facebook page.

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