Jennifer Manning, of Keene, crosses the finish line of the 2019 Lake Placid Half Marathon with her daughter at the Olympic Speedskating Oval. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid Marathon and Half will return to its pre-pandemic route — with one minor change at the end — including a return to the finish line at the Olympic Speedskating Oval. Runners and walkers haven’t finished at the oval since 2019.

“YES, the same place that US Olympic Athlete Eric Heiden took home an unprecedented five gold medals,” the marathon’s Facebook page announced on Wednesday, April 19. “YES, the same one where you will take home your medal. YES, the same one that has that b*#& of a hill right before you get there.”

Lake Placid Marathon and Half owner/organizer Greg Borzilleri told the News on April 13 that registration numbers are higher than they’ve been in years; he began operating the race in 2017 after purchasing it the previous fall.

“By the numbers, we have 850 registered with 2 months to go, 300 marathoners and 550 half marathoners,” Borzilleri wrote in an email, adding that he expects a pre-COVID-sized crowd of about 1,000 athletes for the event on Sunday, June 11. “Due to this, we are moving the start/finish back up to the Oval to accommodate the crowds.”

In 2020, the race was canceled due to the pandemic, and the finish line in 2021 and 2022 was located at Jewtraw Park on Station Street.

On Monday, April 17, members of the Lake Placid Village Board of Trustees approved Borzilleri’s request for route changes in the village. The race begins at 8 a.m., and the official cut-off time is 2 p.m.

The race will start on Main Street in front of the oval, go to Saranac Avenue, continue on Mirror Lake Drive around the lake, take a left on Parkside Drive, a right on Morningside Drive, continue down Sentinel Road/Route 73, take a left on River Road, continue out-and-back with a turnaround near the end of the road, head back into the village to Mill Pond Drive (marathoners will turn around and do another River Road loop), where half-marathoners (and marathoners after their second loop) will take a left, then a right up the McLenathan Avenue hill, turn right on School Street, a left on the Main Street sidewalk, and enter the oval from the front gate.

In 2019, the only difference was athletes took a left up the middle-high school driveway from School Street and entered the oval from the right of the school.

This year’s charity partners for the Lake Placid Marathon and Half are the Lake Placid Educational Opportunity Fund and the Joshua Fund. They will receive donations, along with aid station groups representing fundraising for the New York Ski Educational Foundation, Shipman Youth Center, Lake Placid Outing Club and the Saranac Lake Nordic Team.

For more information, visit lakeplacidmarathon.com.