At 9 a.m., 140 racers lined up at the base of Mount Pisgah. Some people raced as individuals, others raced as teams, with teammates taking different legs of the multi-sport race.

After skinning or snowshoeing up Pisgah, they skied or ran back down, hopped on bikes and took off for Dewey Mountain, 2.7 miles away. Due to the lack of snow, instead of cross-country skiing around the Dewey course, they ran.

After a bike ride down the Beaver Park, they hopped in boats and paddled down the Saranac River to the Saranac Lake Fish and Game Club where they hit dry land running, hauling up the mountain back to the finish at the base of the Mount Pisgah ski hill.

Racers came in with their tongues hanging out of their mouths — exhausted by the 12.22-mile course — or with giant smiles for having completed the challenge.

The “Snow Bunnies” — Eden Ellsworth, Walter Greene, Ruthie Joyner, Eliza Lynch and Marley McKim — race toward the finish line of the kid’s 3P race on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Dozens of spectators lined the route on trails, streets and bridges over the river, furiously shaking cowbells, blowing horns and cheering on the racers — or heckling their friends and teammates.

This year also included a kid’s 3P race around the Mount Pisgah area and brought 35 young racers.

“It’s something that kind of fits with the whole purpose of why we’re doing this,” Scott McKim, one of the event’s organizers, said. “It benefits local youth recreational interests.”

Thought the temperature has been warm recently, at race start it was 33 degrees out.

McKim said Mount Pisgah wasn’t skiable for the week before.

Jasper Wiech of team “Beat Kogut” slows up after zipping down Mount Pisgah in the first leg of the Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on Saturday. His team, made up of Saranac Lake High School students, was attempting to beat their Nordic coach, Keith Kogut. Kogut took first in the competition, racing solo, for the second year in a row. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“(Mountain Manager) Andy Testo really pulled a rabbit out of his hat,” McKim said.

The event went off with the work of 60 volunteers. McKim said they’ve been excited to bring this type of event to Saranac Lake. 3P races are more common on the West Coast. McKim said Saranac Lake’s is the only official one east of the Rockies he knows of currently active.

“I think we’ve really hit on something,” he said.

This is a tough time of year, he said, as the weather is in transition. The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival is over. The paddling season hasn’t begun. And skiing and biking can be iffy with the weather making for yucky conditions.

The 3P gets people outside and active, even in the poor weather he said. It gives them a reason to still go out and enjoy the sports, even in less-than-desirable conditions.

Elizabeth Greis of team “Above Average Mediocrity” crosses the finish line of the Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on Saturday with the aid of a doughnut dangled in front of her as incentive to keep running. Her shirt reads “I hate running but I love dessert.” (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

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Two-time winner

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Saranac Lake High School Nordic ski coach and band director Keith Kogut finished the race first for the second year in a row, even beating out the “Beat Kogut” team of his students who assembled to topple his title.

His finishing time of 1:13:20 was 2:17 faster than the next finisher — a team of state Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers.

Jeremy Evans digs in as he paddles down the Saranac River in the second-to-last leg of the Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on Saturday. Evans finished the 12.22-mile course in 1:19:35. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Kogut said he doesn’t train for the 3P, per se.

“I think it’s just the lifestyle,” he said. “We do all the different events throughout the year. … I feel like it’s a good test of the Adirondack lifestyle.

“I tell my students all the time, ‘If you want to be happy living here you’ve just got to go do stuff,'” Kogut added. “This is not the place to be if you want to be sitting on the couch of laying on the beach. Just get out and do it. And the more you do it, the happier of a life you’ll have.”

He was excited to take first again, but he said he was more excited by the event’s growth.

“It’s nice seeing some of the same faces out, and some new folks, too,” Kogut said.

Julia Goren of team “Crazy ladies” crosses the finish line of the Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on Saturday, bringing her two-member team’s time on the 12.22-mile course to 1:48:30. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

He said there was fierce competition on the course.

“Knowing that (German biathlete) Andrea Henkel was coming up behind me … it’s not every day that you get chased by a gold medalist,” Kogut said. “She’s a monster. I was looking back over my shoulder the whole way.”

Kogut said he’ll keep competing in the Saranac Lake 3P as long as they’re held. Next year, he plans to attempt a three-peat, but he said he doesn’t want to count his chickens before they hatch.

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

Adam Karl of team “Summit Sirens” zips down Mount Pisgah in the first leg of the Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

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 Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Jack Burke of team “a mexican a german and two gringos” finishes his lap of running at Dewey Mountain during the Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Della Schwartzberg of team “Blue Mustard” strikes out on the Nordic skiing portion of the kid’s 3P multi-sport race on Saturday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Andrea Henkel Burke of team “a mexican a german and two gringos” races to the finish line at the Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on Saturday. The German Olympic biathlete and gold medalist carried the Mexican flag, the German flag and the gringo flag. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Keith Kogut catches his breath after finishing the 12.22-mile Saranac Lake 3P multi-sport race on Saturday in a time of 1:13:20, the fastest of any of the 130 racers and 2:17 faster than the next finisher, a team of state Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)