The Berkshire Ultra Running Community for Service was founded in 2013 by three passionate long-distance runners from Western Massachusetts. The BURCS crew is composed of runners of all ages who seek to use their passion for sport and activism to spread awareness about important social, civic, and environmental issues. Interested in running with us? Check out our races in the descriptions below, or on UltraSignup.com!
Satan’s Sidewalk & Frozen Folly 66.6 hr
February 1-28, 2026
Winter in New England is cold, dark, and bleak. Wind bites at the exposed flesh, making it hard to get good long runs in. To spice up your winter training, consider Satan's Sidewalk. The brain child of Wally Watermelon, Satan's Sidewalk is a 66.6 Hour or 66.66k Treadmill Odyssey through fire, brimstone, and masochistic purgatory, running in place for mile, after mile, after mile, after mile. The 66.6 hour allows one to take breaks for food, work, sleep, etc. 66.66K is a fixed distance race.
You may choose any day in February for your start clock to begin. Once you start, you cannot pause or change the start clock. You will select a start date and time. Your race clock will start on that day and time. For the fixed time (66.6 hours), you will have 66.6 hours to log as many miles as you care/can. You must take photos with date stamps to prove the distance you ran on the treadmill and submit evidence in a unique email thread to the race director. If registering for the 66.66k, you have a 24 hour window to complete the distance and submit for verification. For award purposes, in the 66.66k, CUMULATIVE TIME from start time will be used to determine overall winners including breaks.
TAILS & TRAILS
50km / 25km / 5mi
May 17, 2025
New in 2025, we are excited to introduce BURCS newest race, Tails & Trails State Forest Run! For Tails & Trails, we will be supporting local animal rescue nonprofits in the surrounding Berkshire area. We have chosen 3 wonderful charities to support with this race. Red Robin Song Animal Sanctuary out of New Lebanon, NY is an organization that many of you know and love from our VP50k race. We are also supporting No Paws Left Behind (the successor organization to the Eleanor Sonsini Shelter), a nonprofit out of North Adams committed to rescuing and rehoming stray and abandoned animals. And lastly we are supporting Berkshire Bird Paradise, Inc. out of Petersburg, NY that is committed to providing care and refuge to injured or displaced birds.
Course Description: We start off with about a 0.1 mile run down the paved Circuit Road before dipping into the woods. The first couple miles are single track trails and some rolling hills but net downhill, some rocks and roots but all very run-able. We head out to the Whirlpool Ravine and take a hard right onto "Beaver Tail," following that to the Beaver Pond. Flow-y mountain bike trails take us through sections of aromatic pine trees to the aid station on Churchill Street. The last two miles of the loop is more flow, more pine trees, some giant boulders, and a few slightly terrifying stuffed animals hiding in the woods. Link to Course on All Trails
Notchview Ultra
72, 48, 24, 12 &6 Hour, 100.7 mi
July 11-14, 2025
The Notchview Ultra (formerly branded the BURCS Summer Fatass) is a fatass-styled event on a gorgeous 1.9 mile cross country ski trail at Notchview Ski Resort in Windsor, Massachusetts.
EVENT TIMES: 72 HOUR and 100.7 MILE start at 12pm on Friday. 48 HOUR starts 12pm on Saturday, 24 HOUR starts 12pm on Sunday. 6 HOUR starts at 12pm Sunday. 12 HOUR starts 7am and ends at 7pm on Saturday. All other events (24, 48, 72 HOUR, and 100.7 mile) end at 12pm on MONDAY JULY 11.
Proceeds after race costs go to the Trustees of Reservations at Notchview and the Baypath Humane Society. Participants will receive a unique finisher’s award courtesy of Ragged Cuts and runners in the 48 & 72 hour have the option to earn a Notchview Ultra 100 Mile+ belt buckle if completing 53 or more laps.
Jug End Loop Ultramarathon
6 Hour & 4.2 Mile
August 23, 2025
The Jug End Loop Ultra takes place each summer in gorgeous Egremont, Massachusetts. Starting at the parking lot on Guilded Hollow Road, runners will traverse the formidable 4.2 mile Jug End Loop Trail counter-clockwise for 5 hours, before finishing the final sixty minutes on a .9 mile mini loop.
All runners are greeted with handmade mugs at the finish line. Runners will encounter fields, stream crossings, apple orchards, undulating trails and breathtaking views. Certain to become a staple in your summer race calendar!
Sweltering Summer 8-Hour
8 Hour
August 9, 2025
The Sweltering Summer 8 Hour (SS8H) & 5k is held on the dirt and cinder track circling Clapp Park in Pittsfield, MA. Runner and walker friendly. All runners receive custom individual aid station space. Hand crafted awards and medals courtesy of Ragged Cuts.
Come experience summer in Pittsfield and enjoy music, food, and friendship as you test your limits. Run 1 lap or 150! Proceeds to benefit AYJ Fund, a non-profit organization in North Adams, Massachusetts that provides children with a cancer diagnosis and their friends, families, and caregivers with complementary care and support. This year, the race will be timed by Mike Melton at MCMTiming. Runners will receive certified marathon distance splits at 74 laps and can stop at any time.
Free to Run Trail Races
50 km / 25km / 15km
June 21, 2025
We continue to support Free to Run, Inc., an organization whose is to enable women and girls to safely and boldly engage in outdoor activity in conflict-affected regions. Through a combination of sports programs, life skills development, and community outreach, they help women to reclaim public spaces and work to change views about the roles that women can (and should!) play in a society. Their programs are designed to develop community leaders who can bring people together across cultural, ethnic and religious lines. They work to provide our participants with the tools to succeed because they can and will be a force for positive change.
The race course is designed as a double-loop/figure 8, combining for approximately 15.5 miles and 3000 feet of vertical gain. The "Big Loop" is about 9 miles long, and consists of climbs to Pine Mountain, Tower Mountain, and Berry Hill. This loop features several breathtaking vistas, a fun section along the Taconic Crest Trail, and a fast, winding descent back to the start/finish line. The "Little Loop" is approximately 6.5 miles long, climbing the gorgeous Lulu Brook trail back to the Taconic Crest Trail. This loop features a fast descent along Daniels Brook and along smooth double-track back to the start-finish line.