Contestants will downhill ski, cross-country ski, kayak, bike and run the 13.4-mile course which combines multiple sports into one big, shoulder-season event celebrating the many types of sport in Saranac Lake.

Saranac Lake 3P co-organizer Joe Williams said registration is still open through next Wednesday. Competitors can race as individuals or as teams, with teammates taking different legs of the multi-sport race.

“It’s gratifying to see a core group of people who have been at all of them,” Williams said. “They were the first ones to sign up.”

He’s also excited to see a lot of new names, including a “critical mass” of Rochesterians forming.

Chelsea Hamilton of team “Butt Sweat and Beers” runs down Mount Pisgah in the first leg of the Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on March 2, 2024. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

They’re expecting 150 competitors by race day. Last year brought 140 racers in 33-degree temperatures.

Williams said the area is seeing the strongest winter for the race so far.

He remembers being concerned about having enough snow at Dewey Mountain last year, and Mount Pisgah wasn’t even skiable a week before the race. This year, they’re paying more attention to the ice building on the edges of the Saranac River.

“The spirit of the race is we’re going to do the best we can with what Mother Nature gives us,” Williams said.

The point is to go out and enjoy the sports, even if one or more of them have less-than-desirable conditions.

Etta Neill of team “Pisgah Pixies” smiles as she takes off on the bike portion of the kid’s 3P multi-sport race on March 2, 2024. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

The race starts at 9 a.m. at the Mount Pisgah Ski Center, where racers skin or snowshoe their way to the top of the 274-foot ski area before skiing down and mounting bikes for a cross-village ride to the Dewey Mountain Recreation Center about 2.7 miles away. At Dewey, they’ll do two laps of cross-country skiing or scramble (snowshoes) and then bike to Beaver Park to put their boats into the Saranac River. After putting in on the cold waters, they’ll paddle 2.4 miles downstream to the Saranac Lake Fish and Game Club, before running back uphill to the finish line at Mount Pisgah.

3P races are more common on the West Coast. Saranac Lake’s is the only official one east of the Rockies that local organizers know of that’s currently active. Williams said there’s been debate on Facebook about a similar style of multi-sport race held in Vermont, called the Mad River Triathlon.

At each venue along the Saranac Lake 3P race course, dozens of spectators line up along the route, standing among the trees, on sidewalks streets and on bridges over the river, furiously shaking cowbells, blowing horns and cheering on the racers — or heckling their friends and teammates.

“The idea is we’re trying to celebrate Saranac Lake here. You don’t need to be a racer to do that,” Williams said.

Williams said racers typically finish around the 2-hour mark. Last year, Saranac Lake High School Nordic ski coach and band director Keith Kogut notched his second first-place finish in 1:13:20. He’s swept all the 3P races thus far, even beating out the “Beat Kogut” team of his students who assembled to topple his title last year.

“Beat Kogut” member Jordanna Samburgh said the group are all away at college this year, so they won’t be able to attempt another take-down of their arch-rival, but they’ll be cheering on racers from afar.

Williams said, last year, he bumped into Kogut at Casa del Sol after the race and that Kogut was the “toast of the town.” His finishing time was 2:17 faster than the next finisher — a team of state Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers. Williams said the rangers are returning to the 3P this year.

At noon, there will be a Kids 3P at Mount Pisgah where kids ages 5 to 15 will ski (downhill and cross-country), bike, tube, run and push a kick-sled to the finish line. Last year’s race brought out 35 young racers.

An awards ceremony follows the kids race, along with a community celebration of Saranac Lake’s outdoor venues, sponsored by RiverTrail Beerworks.

Registration for both races can be found at saranaclake3p.org/registration. Maps for the race can be found at saranaclake3p.org.

As of Wednesday, there are 29 individual competitors registered, two young adult individual registrations, 10 two-person teams, 24 four-person teams, 10 five-person teams and 25 six-person teams. There are also three solo Kids 3P registries and 27 kid teams registered.