WILMINGTON – “Ready or not, here we go,” seemed to be the sentiment for 53 teams of runners who plan to cover 238 miles from the top of Whiteface Mountain to the F.X. Matt Brewery in Utica.

Runners from around the country and Canada gathered in a thick fog at the castle near Whiteface’s summit early this morning to begin the journey, which will take 30 or more hours to complete.

The Peak to Brew relay race is in its second year. Organizers Jason Croniser and Tim Skjellerup said last year’s race was a trial, and after its successful completion, the pair opened the race up to the general public this year. Croniser said 53 teams, each made up of 12 people, started the relay race. That’s 636 runners in all.

Croniser said 50 teams was the goal this year, but they hope to expand the race each year and eventually have as many as 300 teams.

“Everyone’s been really excited,” Croniser said this morning. “The feedback we’ve gotten has been really positive. Our goal is to keep everybody happy and keep them coming back for next year.”

Croniser said the race has so far raised about $1,000 each for the Adirondack Mountain Club and the United Way, but final figures haven’t been calculated yet.

“Our goal was to find two established charities, one in the northern region and one in the southern part of the course,” he said. “We love hiking in the Adirondacks, so the Mountain Club was a natural fit, and United Way does a lot of good in the Mohawk Valley.”

As each team gathered at the castle, some people nervously bounced around, trying to stay warm inside a wet and windy cloud bank.

Jen Sullivan and Kyle Fennell are teammates, with Sullivan running the first leg off the summit and Fennell running the third. Teams trade off runners and have van support to transport runners from one leg to the next. Each runner will take on a few legs of the course with varying lengths.

Fennell, who hails from Potsdam, is training for the Lake Placid Classic half-marathon next month, but he is going to run a longer distance, more than 21 miles during the Peak to Brew relay.

Fennell and Sullivan said their team is made up of friends and friends-of-friends.

“He slept in a hotel room with six people he had never met before,” Sullivan laughed. “But by tomorrow, we’ll all be really good friends.”

Sullivan said she’s tried to fit in training in between taking care of her two kids, but had spent a month or two sneaking in 6 a.m. runs since she was running the first leg, from the top of the Whiteface Veterans Memorial Highway to the main entrance of Whiteface Mountain Ski Area.

Sullivan and Fennell both said they were taking this on just for the sake of the challenge. Well, that and the free beer to be had at the finish line.

“The first beer is going to taste mighty sweet,” Fennell laughed.