Runners Gear Up for Seneca 7 Relay Race

By JIWOOK JUNG and ANNINA BRADLEY Sun City Editor and Sun Contributor

The number “seven” has been a constant for Seneca 7, an annual distance relay race. On April 23, over 300 teams of seven runners will convene at 7 a.m. in downtown Geneva, New York to run a 77.7 mile race looping around Seneca Lake.

At the start line, some teams will don unique costumes — dressed as matching chickens or Dr. Seuss characters — while others will sport the Cornell Running Club racing jersey.

“We usually get somewhere between 2,000 to 2,500 people,” said Jackie Augustine, one of the two co-founders of Seneca 7 race, Geneva city councilor for 16 years and former instructor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. “This year we’ll have about 2,300 racers, making for about 330 teams.”

Along with co-founder Jeff Henderson, Augustine originally began working with Hobart and William Smith College students in 2011 to establish the race, aiming to grow Geneva’s tourism. Her initiative to showcase Seneca Lake’s beauty and fuel local economic growth has mushroomed since then. This fall, the race registration, with an entry fee of $577.77 per team, sold out on its first day.

“[We wanted] to put together some kind of event that would merge those interests between community, economic development and sustainable race practices,” Augustine said.

Besides making for a picturesque race course, Seneca Lake is the main drinking water source for the immediate region surrounding Geneva, according to Augustine.