Seneca7 Snowflakes

When Team Dawn to Dusk crossed the finish line in Geneva at the 2017 Seneca7, it was decided on the spot that we'd make every effort to loop the lake again the following year. Circling an entire Finger Lake in a team van, while one of us is running, and while 300+ other teams are doing the same, has a very unique appeal. The area around the lake is transformed into a whole other world, complete with uniformed weekend warriors, sub-elite road runners, cyclists, hashers, and Ford Windstars adored with team monikers like "7 Fiesty Trash Bags." When registration for the 2018 race opened on Halloween, we were one of the lucky few able to register online before the server crashed and the race filled up in minutes. We were headed back to Geneva.

The Seneca7 is a seven-person road relay that's advertised as 77.7 miles around Seneca Lake, starting and ending on the lake's north shore in Geneva. Each team member runs three legs of various lengths, while the non-running members travel from one checkpoint to the next in a single vehicle. The 330 teams are classified into divisions — Men's, Women's, Mixed, and Cycling. Teams enter their

Not Quite Dawn to Dusk at The Seneca7

The Seneca7 is like a scaled-down version of the Ragnar. Teams of seven race on the roads and circle Seneca Lake in a counter-clockwise direction, mostly sticking to New York State Routes 14 and 414, for 77.7 miles. Each team member completes three legs, passing the baton﹘or in this case, an early-1990s snap bracelet﹘to the next runner at the conclusion of each leg. The other six members who aren't running at any given time have a chance to rest while they travel from one exchange to next next in their team vehicle. (Unless of course, the team registered in the bike division. Then they cycle between exchanges and don't really get to rest at all!) The road route starts and ends in Geneva, NY, and runs through the heart of the Finger Lakes wine country while providing panoramic views of the lake and it's opposite shoreline. Several of the exchanges are even at some of the better known wineries.

When Hayley first proposed the idea of getting a relay team together for the Seneca7, I was immediately intrigued. I'd never been on a relay team before, and I'd heard a lot of good things about the event. We were easily able to recruit four other local friends﹘Ruth, Norah, Juan, and Nate. Juan's father-in-law, Jack, took the final spot. Jack is a veteran runner who'd previously convinced Juan into to take up running by registering for a ten-mile mountain run somewhere in the northern