The 34th Dunn Tire Mountain Goat Run is now in the record books.

Last year I had a chance to run the Goat for the first time. This year I stayed within Clinton Square for the duration of the morning and afternoon. The unique aspect of a distance running race is the perspective of what is going on depends on where you are. Because the Goat stretches over 10 miles and 105 city intersections, includes 3 events, a post race party, over 400 volunteers, 3500 participants, medical team, city support and a partridge in a pear tree, the perspective you have and what you saw is based on where you were.

The Kids race each year is one of the highlights of the Goat. The smiles, energy and determination shown by the boys and girls is something you wish you could capture in a bottle and give back to them as adults. The photo of Fred and Chloe Joslyn pretty much says it all and what a great way to kick off the race day events.

Those amazingly bright yellow shirts, jackets and singlets that seemed to be everywhere belonged to the over 160 people from Team Believe who participated in the Goat on Sunday.

What a team they are. First, they support the Goat with registrations. Next they help during the training runs with keeping people safe. They also have a water stop in the 10 mile run on race day and of course they are responsible for the amazing chalk on the Thornden Park Hill. Team Believe is a fund raising organization that last year donated over $16,000 to local charities. Co-Founder of Team Believe Dave Bartell told me yesterday, “What a great event for our team. The Goat provides the challenge for our participants to shoot for. We support each other and have a fun time doing it, while helping others. How cool is that?”

The Good Olde Boys Junior Bass Fishing Club is an integral part of the success of the Goat. If you ran in the race and the training runs, you know these guys know something about water...and energy drinks. Hailing from Oneida Lake, this group led by Dominick Maio prepares the drinks, sets up the water stops and serves runners on the training runs each week. They also operate the water stop on Crouse Avenue in the 10 Mile Race and this year took care of the 3k water stop, too. We figure the Good Olde Boys Juniors poured and served about 12,000 cups of “clear cool water” or Ironman Energy Drink this Goat season.

Team Red, White and Blue was a huge hit at yesterday’s race and featured Shawn Cheshire, who was blinded in an accident as a paramedic in 2009. This was Shawn’s first race since her accident and she was guided by her friend Chrissy Quijano, who was tethered to Shawn by a piece of cloth and guided by several other Team RWB members.

Syracuse Newspaper Columnist Sean Kirst, a regular Mountain Goat Run participant, passed on running his own race and chose to run along the Cheshire group. According to Kirst, “That was my favorite Mountain Goat. Running with Shawn and Team RWB was a real emotional experience.” You can read Sean’s full account of an amazing 10 mile run.

Standing at the finish line each year may be one of the greatest places anywhere. The smiles, strain, pain and joy of finishing any race, let alone a tough 10 miler, is something that you don’t soon forget.

Finally, one of my favorite race moments is the folks who have had a picnic in Clinton Square after the race, each year it gets bigger. Salads, fruits, veggies, sweets, mimosas and other gourmet treats are spread out on the blanket and the party begins. This year, the group even made their own Mountain Goat Medals which consisted of Mardi Gras beads and their own cartoon Goat.  

Now that is how you celebrate running the Mountain Goat!