Syracuse.com - Mountain Goat Race officials expecting record turnout for Sunday's race

[HuntingNY-News]

Race officials are expecting 3,900 runners to compete..

Syracuse—An expected 3,900 runners—a record number—will descend on downtown Syracuse Sunday morning for the 35th annual Mountain Goat Run and other races.

In the addition to the marquis 10-mile, Mountain Goat Run, the morning's schedule will include several kids runs and a 3K race. Ed Griffin, president of the Mountain Goat Run Foundation, answered questions today about this year's event.

How do registrations this year compare to past years?

"Our registration goes up about 10-15 percent every year. This will be the largest race yet—We had 3,450 last year."

Has the recent tragedy at the Boston Marathon affected registration for the Mountain Goat events in any way?

"When it happened we got an immediate bump in registration. Runners are defiant types of people. Weather, injuries, people tell them they can't do things. They fight back. Of course it wasn't a positive event, but it has had a positive effect on the people signing up for this race."

Did any runners signed up for the Mountain Goat Run compete in the Boston Marathon?

"There are hundreds of people who will be here Sunday who ran in this year's Boston Marathon."

Can runners still register?

Runners can register until race day, although entry fees will go up starting Thursday. The current entry fee for the 10- mile run is $50, and will go up to $60 on Thursday.

When do the races begin on Sunday?

"The kids races start at 9:15 a.m., the 3K kicks off at 9:40 a.m. and the Mountain Goat Run starts at 10:20 a.m."

Where is the starting line, and what are the races' paths through the city?

"The races begin and end on North Salina Street, near Clinton Square. What makes the Mountain Goat Run so popular is that it goes through all sections of the city, and a lot of it is on an incline. It goes through about 110 city intersections."

What is the security situation for the race?

"This is a big enough event where we need something called a "rolling close", where the Syracuse Police Department will completely close a street for 20 minutes prior to the first wave of runners, keep it closed until the last runner goes by, and then open it back up again. We'll have around 60 police officers on duty during the race."

Who is eligible to run in these races?

"The 10- mile is open to any age, although it's not designed for smaller children. High schoolers who are running cross country and are used to running long distances will compete, and our oldest participant this year is around 80 years old."

How far do runners travel to compete in these races?

"Most participants are from Upstate New York, but about 20 percent of them are from out of state. We get a lot of people from Canada and all over the U.S. Last year we had over 30 states represented in the race."

What do the winners get?

"The top five runners in the 10- mile men's and women's categories get cash prizes, with the men's and women's first place winners getting $1,500 each. Also, there will be "time bonus" medals awarded in the 10- mile race, for runners who run under a specific time— for instance, male runners who finish under 70 minutes will win gold medals."

What kind of preparation is involved?

"We hold a number of training runs through Syracuse leading up to the race. We've held them for six weekends now. About a thousand people turned up for those, and police monitor the streets while these are going on. We have some of the largest training runs of any major U.S. race."

Are last year's winners competing this year?

"With these lead athletes, you don't get their itinerary until a couple of days before the race—it depends on how they feel physically and the schedule of their other events. But we know some of the top local runners will be there, like Fred Joslyn, who finished second last year. Maegan Krifchin of Dewitt, last year's female winner [and a former Syracuse University runner], may run this year, but we won't know until later this week."

Any other noteworthy runners who are planning on running Sunday?

"Jerry Smith, who has been in charge of traffic plans for this race for as long as I can remember and who designs the course, is running the race for the first time in probably years on Sunday. He's around 70 years old, and he's a running coach.

The rumor is he might be running with one of his proteges, Jerry Lawson, who is a seven- time winner of the Mountain Goat Run. We call him the "King of the Mountain Goat," and it's said that Jerry and Jerry will be out there together on Sunday."

Are you planning on running this year?

"I ran a couple years ago, but this year I'm not, just because there's going to be so much to do on race day."

For more information on the Mountain Goat events, visit the event website. or call

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog