The Road to the Seneca7, a 77.7 Mile Relay around Seneca Lake

GENEVA, N.Y. WENY) -- This Sunday, April 28th, the 12th annual Seneca7 relay race hits the road for a 77.7-mile run around Seneca Lake. The relay includes 300 teams made up of seven athletes per team.

"Teams of seven take turns," said Senca7 Co. Director Jackie Augustine. "They run three times over the course of the day in smaller segments, kind of leapfrogging in a seven-member sequence from Geneva all the way around the lake and ending up back in Geneva at the end of the day."

Each section a runner participates in is called a "leg." Runners could lace up for seven miles to 14 miles for each leg. There are a total of 21 legs.

The relay starts in Geneva at 5:45 a.m. with each additional wave departing 30 minutes apart until 9:00 a.m.

"There's some that's just straight point to point from one winery to another, because a lot of the wineries on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail are our partner exchange points. Some of them will be a steep downhill that take people off the main road into some more scenic areas. On the course, we have a couple of off-road trail sections and then we have a couple big uphills, especially coming out of Watkins Glen," shared Augustine." 

The Seneca7 is not an ordinary race with just some great cardio, but also a way to support 20 not-for-profits.

"Places like Geneva Reads, Schuyler, Habitat for Humanity, the Lions Club, we've got Literacy Volunteers of Ontario and Yates County A lot of Geneva-based charities like the YMCA, Beverly Animal Shelter, Family Promise, which is in many counties, and other groups like sometimes people are volunteering and then designating their funds," explains Augustine. 

Here are some fun facts about the relay provided by Seneca7

• 305 teams of 7 runners each
• 2,100+ runners total
• Hailing from 13 states  
• From all corners of upstate New York!
• Start waves begin at 5:45 a.m. in downtown Geneva
• {The} Final start wave departs at 9:00 a.m. 
• Race takes runners through Ontario, Yates, Schuyler, and Seneca Counties
• Runners will pass through the Village of Watkins Glen between 11:40 - 1:45
• First runners {are} expected at {the} finish line (Geneva’s Lakefront Park) as early as 4
• Stragglers arriving until shortly after 8 p.m. 

For all details from the course logs, registration, race results, course guide, and more click here. If you know someone running you can use the live race tracking feature.