More than 600 Participate in Steel Rail Races

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Matthew Ferraro was the first runner across the finish line at the MountainOne Steel Rail Marathon.
 
Ferraro clocked a time of 2 hours, 41 minutes flat on the Ashuwilticook Rail Trail course.
 
He finished a little more than five minutes ahead of runner-up Nick Reid (2:46:15).
 
Simone Veale won the race's women's division in a time of 3:18:42. She beat out Jill Hussain, who covered the course in 3:27:23.
 
The fastest marathoner on Sunday was Stephen Gulley, a hand cyclist, who clocked a time of 2:15:03.
 
The 26.2-mile circuit was covered by 150 finishers ranging in age from 18 (William Hanley in 14th place) to 72 (Ric Nudell, who finished in 6:04:47).
 
The day also featured a half-marathon and an 8-kilometer race.
 
Mark Rabasco won the half-marathon in 1:18:41, edging Vincent Gauthier (1:22:38).
 
Kat Morrissey placed third overall in 1:23:43 and first among women in the half-marathon, which had 213 finishers.
 
Abigail Chaloux was the fastest woman in the 8K, crossing the finish line in 35:52, six seconds ahead of Caroline Kessler; the two women were ninth and 10th, respectively, overall in a field of 171 finishers.
 
Peter Hale had the fastest 8K time, 27:42. Erik Kessler was second in 30:32.
 
More than 600 people registered for Sunday's races, a record for the Berkshire Running Foundation event. Runners from 24 different states signed up to run.
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John Rubinstein on 'Eisenhower,' Trump, Fosse, Sondheim & Williamstown Theatre Festival

By Alan PetrucelliSpecial to iBerkshires
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It's a rainy Saturday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio, and John Rubinstein is driving to the Berkshires. He left his Los Angeles home a few days ago, and his next stop is Cleveland. Once he gets to Pittsfield, he readies for his return appearance as Dwight D. Eisenhower in "Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground," a one-man show Rubinstein first did at the Barrington Stage Company last summer.
 
The show has been brought back by rave reviews and popular demand; it opens Sept. 16 and runs through Sept. 26. 
 
Rubinstein, who turns 80 in December, has been crisscrossing the country, doing the show for the past four years: "I can't wait to do it again and again and again," he said. "It's one of the great crowning pieces of luck of my career."
 
And what a career: "Crazy Like a Fox," "Family," numerous Broadway plays and musicals and TV movies and feature films and two Tony awards for "Pippin" (1972) and "Children of a Lesser God" (1980). A surprise many fans don't know: Rubinstein has scored the music to several films and TV shows, including "Jeremiah Johnson," "The Candidate," "The Dollmaker" and "China Beach."
 
During an exclusive interview over a 75-minute phone call, Rubinstein talks about liking Ike and loving "Eisenhower," as well as Donald Trump, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Fosse and the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
 
How did you hook up with 'Eisenhower?'
 
Director Peter Ellenstein sent me an email that said, "I have a play about Eisenhower, and I'd like to send it to you to consider." I read it. It was 40 pages long and single-spaced, one guy talking. I thought. "Jesus Christ, I don't know if anybody's gonna want to hear that, a two-hour monologue." But I liked it. I respected it. I found it fascinating but (a) I wasn't sure it would work as a play, (b) if I could memorize it and (c) if I could memorize it and it was a good play would anyone want to go see it? So I didn't commit myself at first. But Peter said, "Why don't you come and meet with me and the playwright, Richard Hellesson, and read the play out loud?"
 
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