When Katie Claiborne earned her first ultramarathon victory at the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s (BURCS) 2024 Vegan Power 50K, she already was a force to be reckoned with in the Northeast. Since making her ultra debut in 2021, she has had at least 13 ultra finishes to her credit and several podium finishes.

In addition to topping the female field and finishing second overall at Vegan Power, Claiborne capped a stellar 2024 with a top-10 finish at the Vermont 100.

Claiborne opened her 2025 season in February with a trip to Arizona for the highly competitive Black Canyon Ultras 100K. Of the 1,002 starters, 776 finished within the 20-hour time limit. Claiborne was 167th overall and 49th in the female field that saw some of the biggest names in the sport do battle. After taking on a massive field at Black Canyon, Claiborne returned to more intimate racing for her next event: the BURCS Free to Run Trail Races.

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.

A few new surprises were in store for runners at the Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service’s (BURCS) Free to Run Trail Races this year.

The event still raises funds to support Free to Run, Inc., a nonprofit organization that seeks to enable women and girls in conflict regions to engage in physical and outdoor activities. That part of the event was unchanged.

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.

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.