The first 7 Sisters Trail Race was a six-mile, one-way race from the Notch Visitors Center to Route 47 in Hadley. It followed almost the same out-route as the present race does, but was slightly different toward the finish as it went down closer to Route 47 instead of its present turnaround location near the home of Ted and Merle Buckhout, who graciously host our aid station at the 6-mile mark.

In fact, the first "race" wasn't an official race as the State Warden in charge of the Mt. Holyoke State Park informed us prior to the start that we could not have a race on State property. "No problem, we'll just have a fun run instead," replied the Race Director, and off they went. The winner of that race was former UMass cross country and track star, Peter Crisci of Northampton.

Sensing some resistance on the part of the State to the continuation of the race, the 7 Sisters deteriorated to a postal competition that allowed participants to run the course at any time and report the time to the local running store, the runner'shop in Northampton (owned by the race director at the time). Fortunately, one day the runner'shop was visited by Jonathan Gottsche, an avid photographer and an officer of The Friends of the Holyoke Range, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the Range and the promotion of various activities on the Range, i.e., interpretive studies, concerts, hikes, bird watches, land acquisition, etc.

Jonathan was intrigued about the race and wanted to know more. Upon hearing that it wasn't welcomed as an official race anymore, he volunteered to bring the support of The Friends to the race, thus garnering official permission to stage the race. With that permission in place, the race was timed to co-ordinate with a trail breakfast that The Friends organized each spring and the distance was doubled, to twelve miles as an out-and-back.

Today, the 7 Sisters Trail Race is a fundraising event that benefits The Friends of the Holyoke Range. The 7 Sisters Trail Race has donated more than $10,000 during its existence. Those donations are made possible through your entry fees and the support and donations of gifts, T-shirts, and assistance from our sponsors. We thank everyone involved for helping us to preserve the trails that we love to run.