Tag Archives: Notchview Ultra

Alessandrini Makes More Notchview History with 1,000th Mile

For the first two years of its existence, the Notchview Ultra was a 6-hour fatass-style event where the top mileage tallies were in the mid-30s. When the event added 12- and 24-hour options for 2017 and 2018, Dietmar Bago was the standard setter with 91.2 miles each time in the event’s longest offering.

In 2019, the Notchview Ultra entered new territory as race director Benn Griffin expanded the format into a multi-day distance fest that included a 72-hour race. In doing so, Griffin dared runners to dream of the endurance possibilities and discover what was possible on the 1.9-mile cross country ski loop at Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Mass. Ann Alessandrini was the first to set her sights on 200 miles, and she blasted through the distance barrier in the final hour to close out a 201.4-mile effort. It was the first time a runner would surpass 200 miles at Notchview, but not the last.

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Results: BURCS Notchview Ultra

The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the 10th edition of the Notchview Ultra on July 11-14, 2025, 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.

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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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Results: Notchview Ultra

The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the ninth edition of the Notchview Ultra on July 12-15 at Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Mass. Runners took on either a distance-specific 100.7-mile ultramarathon or a variety of time-based race options of 72, 48, 24, 12 or 6 hours, all of them on a 1.9-mile loop course on cross-country ski trails.

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From the Editor’s Desk: Reflections on Coming Up Short

WINDSOR, Mass. – The range of emotions I’ve experienced during nearly 12 years of running trail ultramarathons runs the gamut from elation to extreme exhaustion, optimism to dread, confident and determined, to concerned and a bit scared, to almost always ending with a sense of fulfillment.

If you’ve been in this sport long enough then you’ve likely had your own run-ins with all of these and more. Heck, you may have experienced them all if you’ve run a single ultra, depending on the course, the conditions, the distance and countless other factors.

Still, as I lay on a mattress in the back of the Subaru on Saturday afternoon, July 8, knowing my run at the Notchview Ultra was likely finished, I felt something that I’ve never felt before at an ultra: I felt empty.

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Despite Downpour, Verville Delivers Multi-Day Masterpiece at Notchview

WINDSOR, Mass. – When Taylor Verville hobbled to her car after finishing the Notchview Ultra and braced herself for the three-hour ride home to Kingston, her body felt like it couldn’t give much more. She’d just run 216.6 miles in the 72-hour race and broke the previous overall course record by 15 miles.

Verville’s legs felt like concrete and her brain was fried from the lack of sleep. To say she was exhausted would’ve been the understatement of the year. It was July 11, 2022, and though her mind and body both needed rest, within just a few days Verville was already beginning to plot her Notchview sequel.

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Results: Notchview Ultra

The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the eighth edition of the Notchview Ultra from July 7-10 at the Trustees of Reservations’ Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Mass. Runners tackled a 1.9-mile loop course for 100.7 miles (53 loops), or 72-hour, 48-hour, 24-hour, 12-hour and 6-hour time-based options. Those who ran the most days started their race with high humidity, sun and temperatures in the low 80s and finished their races with temperatures in the 70s and nearly 24 hours of rain.

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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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Results: Notchview Ultra

The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service (BURCS) played host to the seventh running of the Notchview Ultra on July 8-10 at Notchview Reservation in Windsor, Mass. The multi-day event offered runners an assortment of ultramarathon options, including a 100.7-mile race and time-based events of 72 hours, 48 hours, 24 hours, 12 hours and 6 hours.

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