John Reinker of Clifton Park and Lake Placid watches the first of 960 lacrosse balls race down the Mount Van Hoevenberg sliding track March 25 for the first-ever Running of the Balls fundraiser for USA Luge. The second annual Running of the Balls will take place at the sliding track Saturday at the conclusion of the Veissmann World Cup. This event helps pay for team expenses. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

LAKE PLACID — USA Luge will hold its second annual Running of the Balls fundraiser, a quirky Adirondack take on Spain’s dangerous Running of the Bulls, during this year’s Viessmann World Cup races this weekend.

Instead of setting cattle free in the streets of Pamplona behind a group of willing runners, USA Luge officials raffle off lacrosse balls, numbering them with markers, and set them free down the mile-long luge-bobsled-skeleton track at Mount Van Hoevenberg. The winning balls earn prizes for their adoptive patrons, who don’t get to keep the balls. They are used by teams at the Summit Lacrosse tournament, which donates the balls for the event.

“We couldn’t imagine how successful and how much fun it was to hold the first ROTB race,” USA Luge Director of Marketing and Sponsorships Gordy Sheer said in a press release. “Now we’ll do it again in front of the World Cup audience at the track. The money raised will help defray the costs for our athletes to travel and compete internationally as we work our way to the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang.”

The first Running of the Balls benefit was held on March 25, after the World Cup season ended, with more than 900 balls. It was created after the cancellation of USA Luge’s longtime fundraiser, the annual racing event at the Lake Placid Toboggan Chute. It was a blessing in disguise as the Running of the Balls raised in excess of $12,000, much more than the toboggan races ever netted.

This year’s event will take place Saturday, Dec. 3, shortly after the conclusion of the two-day World Cup at the Olympic Sports Complex. Cash prizes and goods from local purveyors will be offered for the top five balls and the last-place ball.

The event will be covered live online at www.usaluge.org and www.wslpfm.com, and on the radio at WSLP 93.3-FM.

On-site fans will be treated to coverage on large screens thanks to the International Luge Federation, Carr-Hughes Productions and the state Olympic Regional Development Authority.

Fans may enter as many balls as they’d like. The cost is $10 per ball or three balls for $25.

Prizes will be awarded as follows: first place, $500; second place, $300; third place, $200; fourth place, $100; fifth place, $100; and last place, $100.

As sponsor contributions grow, the prize package will increase accordingly. USA Luge will sell tickets at Lake Placid retail outlets, at USA Luge headquarters at 57 Church St. in Lake Placid and online at http://usluge.wufoo.com/forms/usa-luge-2nd-annual-running-of-the-balls.

Mitlin Financial and High Peaks Resort are presenting sponsors; McDonald’s of Lake Placid is a gold-level sponsor; Casella Waste Management, Graymont Materials, Inc. and Summit Hotel are silver-level sponsors; Mountain Dental, Hoffman Auto and Lake Placid Family Dental are bronze-level sponsors. The Lake Placid News and WSLP-FM are media sponsors, and the Lake Placid UPS Store is providing event-related services.

USA Luge set a team record with 18 medals in the 2015-16 World Cup season. High finishes in the overall rankings added to the most successful World Cup campaign in team history.

Two-time Olympian Chris Mazdzer, of Saranac Lake, placed third in the final World Cup overall standings. He’s the third man in team history to do so.

Erin Hamlin of Remsen, the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist and 2009 World Champion, finished fourth on the season, with Summer Britcher of Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, right behind her in fifth place. Britcher tied for the most World Cup wins this winter with three and held the leader’s bib in mid-season.

The doubles team of Matt Mortensen of Huntington Station and Jayson Terdiman of Berwick, Pennsylvania, in just their second season together, finished fifth, an improvement of two places from 2014-15. The Sochi Olympians had top finishes of fourth and fifth places on the World Cup tour.

For more information about USA Luge, visit on line at www.usaluge.org.