The 7 Sisters Trail Race was held this past Sunday in South Amherst, MA. For those who aren’t familiar with this legendarily tough race:
“The race is a 12 mile, out-and-back course along a technical, singletrack trail over what locals dub the “Seven Sisters” in the Mt. Holyoke Range.”
That description the race website doesn’t quite do it justice. It’s a 12 mile course, and if you break 2 hours on it then you’re in exclusive company. In fact, this year only the top 3 guys broke that barrier:
Josh Hummel…1:56:02
Brian Rusiecki…1:57:57
Zach Zanchi…1:59:17
It’s definitely a time to be proud of! The top three women pretty much crushed it and were right up there in the top of the field:
Kelsey Allen…2:12:45…13th overall
Kehr Davis…2:15:52…17th overall
Sarah Keyes…2:17:46…19th overall
But the one we’re going to focus on today is Leslie O’Dell, who was the top women’s masters runner in 2:23:03 (25th overall).
Yeah, it didn’t hurt that she was wearing the Level singlet too.
According to Leslie’s Strava entry, she picked up 3,385 feet of elevation gain over the course of the race. But that’s no sweat for her, a regular mountain goat.
All that, and the only thing she wrote about it was…”Awesome race. 4th woman. Muddy and wet, but so fun.”
She made it look like fun in the pics! More on this race to come, but for now, check out…
Gallery by Northeast Race Photo
Both photos here are courtesy of Ben Kimball and Northeast Race Photo, so check out his work and support your local race photographers!
