Recently I participated in the Sehgahunda trail event at Letchworth State Park in upstate NY. This is the third time I have participated in this event. The first time I participated in the event I was part of a relay team. The next year my friends and I all decided we would run the trail marathon. This year my best friends and I ran together as part of a relay team. We were all at the event with our extended running family from the SOAR running club, a youth running club in upstate NY. There were teams of youth running the relay together, teams of adults and youth running together, and solo runners running the full marathon.

My original plan for this event was to run almost the complete marathon. I wanted to run with my friends as they ran each of their legs and shoot photos and video of them running. Then I would also complete my leg to finish out the relay and create photography and video footage of my leg as well. After suffering a setback in my training during my last race I had been forced to take time off to rest and let my leg recover. I knew I would no longer be able to execute my plan as I had previously wanted. I would not be able to run the majority of a trail marathon right now. After some time off I tested my leg out on some local trails and after a recovery day I felt well enough that I thought I would be able to run the 9 mile leg of the relay. I wasn’t sure how fast I would be but I was pretty confident that I could get it done.

We all met up at the start line and watched our friends set off on this adventure. IT is fun to have so many friends to cheer for. I would be running the second leg so we headed out for the check point where I would meet our first runner and then set off down the trails. I was as ready as I was going to be. Our first runner met up with me and passed the relay bib to me. I put it on and headed down the trails. Getting from the check points down to the main trails through the woods is one of the most challenging aspects of this event. The trails leading to the checkpoints are nothing like the trails leading through the woods. I really enjoy the sections of trails that run through the woods. They are challenging but mostly runable. Even in less than desirable conditions one can run most of the course when down in the woods. I managed to move down the trails at a moderate pace. I tried to take it a bit easier descending and ascending the many ravines that comprise the main feature of these trails that make it so interesting and beautiful.

You run down the trails for a while and then you dip into a steep ravine and pop right back out on the other side. This occurs over and over again along the course. Then there are many sections where you run down a relatively smooth section of trail and you can just look out over a gorge section nearby. These trails are nice and scenic if you love the woods. I really enjoy the 9 mile leg of the relay. I think it is the best section of the course.

As we awaited the final leg of our teams race to start our members were also keeping tabs on the progress of the other teams. WE learned that one of the other teams had failed to make the cutoff time to continue on in the race, meaning their other runners would not be able to run. My kind hearted friend decided without a second thought that she would give up he spot on our relay team and allow the other youth runner who was not going to be able to run to take her place and run the final leg of the relay for our team. So we started with a slightly different team than we finished with, but it was still a fun adventure.

Let’s talk about these trails. One could say that there was some mud this year. Let’s just say there were some footing issues. There was significantly more mud than I had seen in my past experiences. Our friends who have run the race 5 and 6 times have said this was by far the worse mud they have ever seen. Sehgahunda seems to have a reputation for significant levels of mud on the trails leading up to the checkpoints and aid stations that are up out of the woods. This year was no different, but it seemed significantly worse. It wasn’t even like running through mud it was like thick brown soup or pudding. There was no footing to be had. Especially on the way down back into the woods from the aid stations it was so much of a run as a semi controlled constant falling down the trail without ever fully hitting the ground. You just slid along in the mud going wherever the mud took you. I found it better to just ty to go with the flow rather than try to direct myself down a specific course in the mud. It was just not happening. Even on the trails that ran through the woods mud was a significant issue. There was mud and standing puddles of water even on those trails, which I had not experienced in the past. This made the race even more complex and challenging. I am very glad that I did not decide to run the full marathon this year, which I had been contemplating when registration started.

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