Elizabeth Izzo, of Lake Placid, competes in the Lake Placid Classic on Oct. 8, 2022. (News photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — Organizers of the 52nd annual Lake Placid Classic half marathon and 10K are hoping for a record number of participants on Saturday, Oct. 7 as they continue to rebuild after the coronavirus pandemic.

Race director Rick Preston said Tuesday that 505 people had signed up for the races by that time, and he expects more to register later in the week.

“Weather is usually the determining factor,” he said.

The National Weather Service forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies Saturday with a 70% chance of showers and highs near 59 degrees F.

Still, with 505 runners/walkers registered, that’s already more than the 379 people who finished last year (184 for the half and 195 for the 10K). Before 2020, when the Classic was canceled due to COVID-19, the number of racers had been climbing, according to official race results. Finishers for the previous four years were 410 in 2016, 481 in 2017, 617 in 2018 and 562 in 2019. Preston hopes the number will jump to about 640 this year. The first Classic after the pandemic in 2021 had 338 finishers.

Most everything is the same this year, except organizers are stepping up their go-green efforts. One aid station will have aluminum cups, and Preston hopes that at least 90% of those cups will make it to recycling.

People can register online at lakeplacidclassic.com. The cost is $45 for the 10K and $65 for the half marathon.

Packet pickup and registration are from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6 at the Mirror Lake Beach House, Parkside Drive, Lake Placid, and from 6 to 7:30 a.m. on race day at the North Elba Show Grounds. There is plenty of free parking at the show grounds.

At 7:30 a.m. Saturday, there will be yoga, stretching and warm-up. The race begins at 8 a.m. for both the half marathon and 10K. The course closes at noon. Even though aid stations are disbanded at that time, people still on the course at noon are encouraged to finish.

The half marathon will have seven aid stations, and the 10K will have two. There will be a free post-race food and drink area at the finish line for participants only.

The course is the same as last year. Participants for both races start and finish at the North Elba Show Grounds. They begin on the pavement by running/walking into the stable area (a .4-mile clockwise loop), return to the start line, exit the show grounds, go up the John Brown Road hill to the John Brown Farm State Historic Site, go clockwise around the circle, turn left onto western John Brown Road, left onto Old Military Road, right onto Newman Road, right onto state Route 73 (at the Adirondack Corner Store), left on River Road, out and back (different turnarounds for each race), right on Route 73 and finish on the grass at the show grounds.

The course covers town, county and state roadways, and participants are asked to run/walk facing traffic and be 100% aware of traffic at all times. The only exception is after exiting River Road; people are asked to run/walk on the right side of Route 73, up the hill back to the show grounds.

Awards will be offered to the top three male and female finishers for each race. The awards ceremony for the 10K will be held at 9 a.m., and the half marathon awards will be handed out at 9:45 a.m. There are also awards given for the top three finishers in the age groups, but there will be no ceremony: 19 and under; 20-29; 30-39; 40-49; 50-59; 60-69; and 70 and over.

In 2022, the top finishers were: Michael Hoffman, of Clinton, Massachusetts, who won the men’s half marathon race in 1 hour, 18 minutes, 19.43 seconds; Veronica Stauffer, of North Chili, New York, who won the women’s half marathon race in 1:30:29.28; Michael Bodnar, of Westport, who won the men’s 10K race in 37:56:06; and Catherine Kluchinski, of Lake Placid, who won the women’s 10K race in 40:22.45.

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Event history

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Roots of the Lake Placid Classic began in 1968, when the Kiwanis Club of Lake Placid and Circle K Club of Paul Smith’s College teamed up to host their first Sara-Placid Footrace. The small group of runners who organized the race were led for many years by Dr. Robert Lopez. No newspaper records of that first race could be found in the Lake Placid News or Adirondack Daily Enterprise archives.

The second annual Sara-Placid Footrace in 1969 was reported to have taken place from the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid to the Hotel Saranac (10 miles) in Saranac Lake, and from the Olympic Arena to the Saranac Lake Golf Course in Ray Brook (5 miles).

In 1970, it was called the third annual Sara-Placid Road Run, with the 10-mile course going from the Hotel Saranac to the Olympic Arena and the 5-mile course starting at the Saranac Lake Golf Course and finishing at the Olympic Arena.

In 1971, the first annual Kiwanis Circle K Marathon from Paul Smith’s College to the Olympic Arena was held in conjunction with the 10-mile (Saranac Lake to Lake Placid) and 5-mile (Ray Brook to Lake Placid) races.

In 1974, the name of the event changed to the Paul Smith’s College Marathon, and the course was held around the Paul Smiths area that year and in 1975, when a 10-mile run was also held.

In 1976, the name changed to the Lake Placid Marathon, with a course once again stretching from from Paul Smith’s College to the Olympic Arena.

In 1978, the marathon included a half marathon race that began at Paul Smith’s College and finished at the Saranac Lake General Hospital.

In 1982, the Lake Placid Marathon was still being held from Paul Smith’s College to Lake Placid, and the half marathon started between Paul Smiths and Saranac Lake and finished near the Olympic Arena.

In 1983, the event was taken over by Butch Martin and the North Elba Park District, who continued the fall tradition running the half marathon on local roads.

In 2012, after budget restrictions forced the parks department to forego its lead sponsorship, a small group of local volunteers took over the management of the event, changing the name to the Lake Placid Classic.

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Giving back

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The Lake Placid Classic is one of the only nonprofit running/walking events in the Lake Placid area. The goal of the event organizers is to raise funds for local youth organizations. Over the past several years, it has become the vital fundraisers for Lake Placid/Wilmington Connecting Youth and Communities (CYC), a not-for-profit, youth development organization made up of local community leaders, youth, parents and business partners. Proceeds have also gone to the Fit for Life scholarship fund, which provides financial support for patient participation in Adirondack Health’s supervised exercise program, and member scholarships at the medical fitness center in Lake Placid.

This year, instead of CYC, the Classic will benefit the Community Schools program in Lake Placid, coordinated by Keith Clark. Proceeds will also continue to go to Fit for Life and medical fitness center scholarships.

Over the past seven years, more than $110,000 has been raised for local organizations, with $18,000 in funds given out in 2022, according to Preston.