I'm not sure why or how the Seven Sisters got its name. I had thought perhaps there were seven distinct peaks in the Mt. Holyoke Range.

I was mistaken, though. On this course, at least, there was really only one big ridge, with a whole lot of smaller peaks and valleys across the top of it. It's a tough race, about as tough as anything I've ever done. It's not so much that the hills are so very big, or long (though the climbs at the start and the halfway point were plenty big and long). It's just that there isn't any level ground. Not at all, ever, anywhere. There is one short, flat spot on the course — it passes across a deck along a building on one of the peaks — but otherwise, it's all ups and downs, with the occasional stunning view of the surrounding countryside.

Here's a nice topo map of the range. The course went from west from the Notch.

The geography is different out there. I'm used to granite, which tends to stay more or less in one piece. This range is made of something completely different — basalt, that apparently leaked out of a crack in the earth as lava quite some time ago, according to the USGS. Basalt breaks up into sharp, boxy shapes, and the trail was covered with loose, jagged rocks. There also were some nice fixed ragged rocks to scramble over, and, here and there, larger, smoother bedrock that looked to me like good ol' glacier-scrubbed granite. The race starts at the side of Route 116, and launches immediately into a long, steep, single-track climb. Usually I'd walk the steeper slopes, but I'd been advised to get out ahead of the pack early, and so I did… and ran most of the way up. It's a fairly crowded field, with over 200 runners, so getting bogged down in the back could really kill one's timing. As it is, I finished in a blaze of mediocrity, at around 2:44 or thereabouts. I don't care; I feel hardcore just running a race that tough.

I walked a good many of the other climbs, and even some of the lesser slopes on the way back. My legs were spent, and various muscle kept clenching up into cramps. Strangely enough, they tended to feel better when I could open up and really run a little, sometimes only for about five to ten seconds at a time between the steeper parts. I expect to be a tad stiff tomorrow.

I took my Triumph out to the race, and the ride was almost as much fun as the run. It was rather chilly, leaving Nashua at 6:15 a.m., but I had the roads pretty much to myself. I followed lesser, state highways rather than take the Interstates, and was rewarded with some terrific sweeping curves on Route 202. The ride back was warmer, but more crowded, and once I cleaned the dust off my legs I went out and rode some more… I ended up covering around 250 miles today. Thank goodness only 12 of them were on foot! 

Hey, results are up already!