Runners dash around Seneca Lake

SENECA LAKE—Running 77.7 miles as a team might sound daunting, but that’s why you have the team.
A total of 75 teams ran the relay route around Seneca Lake, Saturday, April 30, starting in Geneva. Lauren Lark, one of the organizers, said this is the first year for Seneca7. It was created by students from William Smith college in Geneva.
Lark said the event was also planned to be green. Runners were given reusable water bottles, instead of cups of water. Group members carpooled to the different checkpoints. Some even rode bikes along the route when they weren’t running their stretches.
All but one of the teams came from within the state; the out-of-state team was from Maryland. Runners traveled from Syracuse, Binghamton, Rochester and Ithaca to participate. Each runner did 11.1 miles, over three different sections along the lake. Teams rotated who did the running and switched at the various checkpoints.
Becky Henderson, Odessa-Montour graduate, participated in the race. One of the times she ran for her team, Running Amok, was up Route 414 from Clute Park. Henderson ran that hill in preparation of other races she participated in previously. However, it still took a lot of energy out of Henderson to run it again.
“It’s been a while. It’s a little bit longer than I remember,” she said, after catching her breath.
On her team was Janet Mathews who said she did it for the fun of it. She added it turned out to be a gorgeous day.
Geneva resident Liz Hutchinson also ran the same stretch as Henderson. She said it certainly wasn’t what she expected when looking at the race course on paper. Hutchinson added the view of the Hector Falls was pretty though. Her teammate Jay James said they did the run, “because it’s there.”
The organizers said they hope to hold the Seneca7 again next year.