What a race! Sinister 7 is one of those epic trail races that just begs you to do it. If you are unfamiliar with the Sinister 7, check out the web site: http://www.sinister7.com/ In short, it is summarized thusly:

Total Distance: 148km
Stages: 7 stages ranging from 12km to 35km
Elev. Change: Gain: 5,250m / Loss: 5,250m
Duration: 27 hours to complete the entire course

Now you may be thinking that 148 km is probably too far for most people. This year, only 13 women and 24 men finished the whole distance solo. Which is why most of us join a team.

I got an invite to join a team only a few weeks before the event. I jumped at the chance right away, and am really glad I did. The team I was on was team #108, “2 hot girls and their muses”. I was tagged as muse #3, since I was to run leg 3 of the race. Everyone on the team was really super nice and we were all just out to have fun, and finish. All fun – no stress except what you put on yourself.

John, Andrew, Tracy, Jake, Kevin, Kim, Bill.

We all ran as decent as expected and Andrew crossed the finish line for us at about 02:39, giving us a total time of about 19:39:30, which was good enough for 71st place in the team category.

Many people compare this race to the Death Race in Grand Cache. Although there are similarities (super long ultra race in mountainous terrain) there are also really a lot of difference as well. Not only on the ground, but especially on the organization of the race itself. While the DR is showing signs of organization “glitches”, this Sinister 7 race had absolutely nothing to complain about – lots of food, great volunteers, great course markings, super transition areas, and anything else that you can think of that makes it a good race – was there.

Bill at leg 3 finish

On a personal level, I found this race very tough – even though I only ran one leg of 35 km, it was enough for me. Although I would one day love to run something like this solo, it is definitely not in the cards for at least a few years – and even then in the condition that I can learn a lot more about myself with respect to hydration and nutrition beyond the 30 km point of a race. Perhaps one day, but it will be later rather than sooner.

In summary, the whole weekend was absolutely fantastic. I saw friends whom I had not seen in many months, and our team spirit and general enjoyment of the race was not beaten by anyone. With the exception of a few scrapes and bruises, and some apparently bad vanilla gel that caused a stomach ache, it was a perfect weekend of running. I hope that I will be able to have the chance to run this one again next year.