It could hardly be worse: Mother’s Day weekend, 2006, you may recall, brought some of the hardest rains and worst flooding in recent memory. A small group of hardcore (or perhaps just nutty) runners finished the race all the same.

(The Accuweather forecast for Saturday predicts partly sunny, highs in the 60s, for what it's worth).

I don’t plan to run it myself, but I know the trail and I think it may be the toughest trail race in New England. Here’s an elevation graph of the trail, from the race website.

I would consider a fast, end-to-end (21 mile) hike a good day’s adventure. These folks consider it the "short course." There is also a 12-mile option, but it doesn’t look as though many have registered for it.

A bunch of runners plan to go end to end and back (E2E2E), and a bunch more are going to add some extra loops to make for either 26.2 or an even 50 miles. On the bright side, the longer course runners don’t have to take a shuttle for their 5 a.m. start. Runners on the “short” courses start with an 8 a.m. ride from the south end to the north end.

I don’t get the impression, from the race website, that same-day registration is allowed. The race is limited to 95 runners, and there are still slots available though.

I recognized a few names on the sign-up list, including Northern Nipmuck race director Jim Campiformio, 57, of Ashford, Conn., and 

Leigh Schmitt, 34, of Conway, Mass., who often turns up in the top five at trail races. They are both going for 50 miles, along with Norm Sheppard, 49, of New Ipswich, who lives close enough to the trail that he must know what he's getting into.

Mark Walsh, 35, of Nashua, and Mildred Mugica, 35, of Nashua, both are signed up for the 21 mile end-to-end run, and Bob Treadwell, 52, will strive to live up to his name on the 12 mile course.

Good luck to everyone, and I’d love to hear from any runners after the race. Post a comment or shoot me an email.