Each year, runners around Bowling Green plan their training schedules around the 10K Classic.

This year isn’t different. Just as fall has arrived on the Hill, so has the 24th annual race sponsored by The Medical Center.

The event will feature four races that will start at Zacharias and Meredith halls and end at Smith Stadium.

Event planners expect around 2,500 runners to participate, about the same number as last year.

Several Western students plan to enter the event, including 10 members of the Army ROTC Ranger Challenge distance team.

“Our goal is to finish under an hour,” Commander Matt Bryant said. “It’s going to be hard to do.”

The ROTC team will wear boots and combat gear that weighs about 40 pounds.

“We hope to run as hard as we can,” junior 1st Sgt. Mike Sholts said. “We’re not doing any superstitions. We just want to get the job done.”

Being in the ROTC will allow them to stay in shape. The team runs more than four miles four times a week starting at 5 a.m.

The team hopes to use this race as a tuneup for the Ranger Challenge Competition on Oct. 25 at Fort Knox.

About 30 teams will participate in the Classic.

The five-kilometer race will start at 8 a.m. The 1.5 mile Fun Walk will start at 8:20 a.m. The 10-kilometer wheelchair race will begin at 8:55 a.m. The 10-kilometer race will start at 9 a.m.

All entrants are eligible to attend the First Bank Pasta Party tomorrow from 4 to 9 p.m.

Runners can also attend the Health and Fitness Expo from 3 to 9 p.m. Attendees will be eligible to receive diagnostics from The Medical Center.

Reach Josh Buckman at [email protected].