Calling the Mare Trail Adventure

 Not only does the Pike River Trail Run/Walk/CaniCross have a NEW home at Seno K/RLT Conservancy, it now has a NEW name as well (Calling the Mare Trail Adventure Run/Walk & Canicross).  

The new home...
This land was donated by Dr. Elvira Seno, directing its 127-acre (now nearly 240 acres) facility in western Kenosha County toward educating the public on prudent land management for sustainable forestry practices with related benefits to wildlife and natural beauty. Dr. Elvira Seno wished her beloved “Slippery Slopes” tree farm to become a place for others to learn about trees and nature. Dr. Seno passed away in November 1996. In her last year, she saw her dream fulfilled as buses full of children came to learn about forests and nature on her beautiful farm.

What does “Calling the Mare” mean?

In Medieval England, September was always known as the Harvest month, and as the many farmers would gather in the last of their crops, trying to prove that they had reaped the best crops they would try and beat their neighbouring farmers to complete the work first.

There was a fun ceremony known as “Calling the Mare” and this involved quickly gathering the last sheaf of the harvest and shaping it into a mare shape, then delivering it to the neighbouring farmers land, shouting “Mare, Mare.”

This was supposed to signify that wild horses would come and eat their harvest if they didn’t gather it in quickly.

Once the receiving farmer had finished gathering his crop, he would pass it onto the next farmer who had not finished until it reached the last farmer.

This last farmer would then have to keep the “Mare” on display for a year to show that he was the slowest farmer.

Similarly, corn dolls were also weaved into shapes and placed in the cornfields as farmers believed that these corn dolls were the spirit of the corn goddess.

It was believed that if you did not place a corn doll in your fields the corn goddess would die and so would your crops.

So now you know what the term “Calling the Mare” means and that it comes from an old farming tradition.  We hope that you will run quick and not be labeled the MARE at this event.

The trail is double-wide, running through woods, open prairie, hills throughout with some a bit more challenging, the surface is grass dirt and a couple of very short sections of gravel road.  

Distances: 3.3, 5.3, 7.3 and 9.3 miles. The first loop is modified for the extra distance and each following loop is 2 miles.  

The Kenosha Running Company is humbled and thankful to announce that all military veterans, active servicemen, police, sheriffs, and their spouses will be able to run/walk many of our 2021 events for FREE. Calling the Mare Trail Adventure is one of the events selected for this unique program. If you qualify, please email us or call (262) 925-0300 to receive a discount code for the FREE entry. Please note, you will have to show proper identification at packet pick up.

XCThrillogy proudly offers RUNSURANCE for many of their events.  If for any reason you are unable to attend, you can defer your entry to the next year's event, run a similarly priced event, or get 80% of your entry fee refunded.  To take advantage of this offer, simply select "RUNSURANCE" as an option during the event registration.  If you do miss an event in which you have purchased RUNSURANCE, a member of the Kenosha Running Company staff will contact you about your options.