CHARLEMONT — Following a warm, sunny day last year, the 2025 Berkshire Highlands Pentathlon forced athletes to brave through cold, driving rain on Saturday at Berkshire East. 

The weather didn’t deter athletes from coming out and competing in the race, which as always begins with a 4.3 mile run that starts on pavement through the town of Charlemont, then heads into a mix of woods, roads and trails. The second leg sees athletes compete in an 18-mile bike ride before heading into the water for an almost two mile paddle. 

The fourth leg has competitors go through a 1.75 mile adventure run, which takes place on mixed dirt and pavement. To close out the event, athletes must climb to the top of the mountain before skiing down through gates. Competitors are allowed to compete either by themselves (Bravehearts) or in teams. 

Shelburne Falls’ Kristian Whitsett was the winner of the race last year but he was dethroned this year by Northampton’s Ben Jankowski, as Jankowski narrowly took first place with a time of two hours, 13 minutes and 35 seconds. Whitsett settled for second with a time of 2:14:22. 

It was the first time Jankowski participated in the race, making the win all the more impressive. 

“I’ve never done this, I’ve only seen it and heard about it,” Jankowski said. “My buddy is one of the founders of it so he’s been begging me to get in. It was great. It was an absolute wild event and it was a lot of fun. There’s a lot of good people here.”

Dealing with a bit of an injury heading in, Jankowski didn’t know how he’d perform on the grueling course. His knee held up however, as he noted how nice the course was even in the weather and how easy it was to be motivated for a race like this. 

“I had some knee issues before,” Jankowski said. “They didn’t pop up here. I popped some ibuprofen and it seems to have done the trick. You have a lot of adrenaline going and it’s a gorgeous course. Everybody is super chill. I put on events myself so it’s really cool to see all the hard work that goes into this.”

Jankowski got the full experience of the event on Saturday. From the run, to the bike, to getting even more soaked during the paddle portion, to having to do another run then climb up the hill in driving rain is no easy task, yet Jankowski powered through to earn the first place finish. 

“It was pretty brutal, especially when you’re soaked through on the river,”  Jankowski said. “Then they just throw you straight onto the hills. They want to kill you but it was a good time. I don’t really go up hill a lot on skis. That was a slog and a half. I didn’t really know what to do with it.” 

Jankowski and Whitsett were neck-and-neck going into the climb up the mountain and ski portion of the race. Jankowski was able to just narrowly earn the victory and take the top spot away from Whitsett. 

“It really started pouring when I was on the paddle,” Whitsett said. “My kids were on the bike ride at the time. That’s how it goes. This guy who got me at the top had a great race.” 

Despite the tough weather, the Shelburne Falls native says he always enjoys competing in this race due to the constant challenges it creates. 

“This race is always fun,” Whitsett said. “The run was a little bit harder this year and got steep at the beginning. It’s just so fun. You trade back and forth, you see people in front of you then they’re behind you. It’s always a great race, even in this rain.” 

Jason Linker took third overall with a time of 2:15.48 while Shelburne Falls’ Zach Livingston settled for fourth. 

Tori LaVerdiere was the top braveheart finisher on the women’s side, completing the course in a time of 2:37:05. Phoebe Gelbard took second with a time of 2:40:16 while Erin Vantuyl came in third (3:10:45). 

The two-person squad of Alex Sutliff and Kyle Ford (Team AK 47) finished was the fastest team time of 2:12:10 while the Windsor Dad Dashers took second (2:12:45). The fastest five-person team was Don’t Feed the Bears with a time of 2:18:03. 

Running for the Combat Wombats, Liam Walker completed the opening run in a time of 28:49.