Students near the finish line of the 50th annual Halloween mini marathon at Sams Valley Elementary School Tuesday morning.

Keeping with a Halloween tradition literally a half-century in the running, nearly 900 fourth- and fifth-graders converged onto Table Rock Road Tuesday morning for the Sams Valley Mini Marathon.

Founded in 1974, the run celebrated its 50th year with a familiar sea of colorful T-shirts, a giant inflatable start line and an enthusiastic crowd of cheering students, dancing mascots and camera-wielding parents. This year’s T-shirts were emblazoned with the phrase “50 years of grind, grit and greatness.”

The run is held each year outside Sams Valley Elementary, spanning a mile-and-a-half each direction. Before the race, members of the Crater High School track team — many of whom are in the process of committing to universities — suited up in warm hoodies or mascot costumes and rooted for their younger counterparts.

Josiah Tostenson, 17, a Crater track standout, flashed a big smile as the senior saw the hundreds of grade-schoolers gearing up for the big race.

“I remember doing the mini marathon my fourth- and fifth-grade year. It was actually very important to me. My dad always wanted me to win it,” Tostenson said, remembering he was “probably the littlest guy out here” when he ran the race in 2016 and 2017 as a Jewett Jaguar.

From a family of runners, Tostenson ran a 19:30 in fourth grade, then shaved exactly a minute off of his time, coming in at 18:30 the following year.

“I won it when I was in fourth and fifth grade. It was a super big deal to me. I always looked forward to winning it my whole third grade year before I got to run it. I wanted to be the first grade-schooler to win both my years I could run it,” Tostenson said.

“I remember feeling nervous, getting ready for the race, thinking, ‘Dang there’s a lot of kids here. I hope I do OK.’ Looking back, it’s part of what brought me to where I am today.”

Junior Tayvon Kitchen, a 17-year-old Crater track team member, donned an owl suit minutes before the race — the owl is the mascot for Comet Academy Magnet Program. He remembered his own race days at Mae Richardson Elementary.

“I got eighth place my fourth-grade year and fourth place my fifth-grade year,” Kitchen remembered.

“Looking back, it’s what got me into running. Just the racing part of it was so much fun.”

A flash of black that zoomed toward the finish line after just 21 minutes — the entire race would last more than an hour — 10-year-old William Getsinger left a wide gap between himself and those in his wake. Taking second place last year, the fifth-grader won this year’s event, completing the course in 21 minutes, 23 seconds.

“I run with the Scenic (Middle School) cross-country team, and I do a summer camp where I run a lot. I thought I’d at least do OK, but it just felt so amazing and fun today,” said the boy.

“I love this course, running on the road. When I came through and realized I made first, I was just like, ‘Yes! I did it!’”

Tuesday’s fastest girl, fourth-grader Elizabth Rios, 9, cruised toward the finish line to the sounds of her mom and dad, Heidi and David Rios of Central Point, cheering her on. Big brother Anthony Rios, a Crater sophomore, ran alongside his little sister. Elizabeth said she spent time training for her 24:56 win.

“I’ve been running since I was 7,” said the girl.

“And I have a treadmill at my house.”

Vern Loy, a longtime educator and athletics official for Southern Oregon, manned the finish line. Loy was a teacher at Sams Valley in 1974 when he founded the mini marathon initially held the day after Halloween.

“We got it started because it was Halloween, and the teachers had a hard time keeping the kids calmed down with the sugar and everything. … We were trying to encourage the fitness thing… make the kids realize it’s important to do versus eating a lot of candy,” Loy said.

“We have kids who have run in this that have gone on to state championships. I always wanted it to continue but I never, in my wildest dreams, thought it would make it to 50 years.”

In the distance, with sheriff’s deputies blocking the road for runners to finish their marathon, a group of school mascots — the Sams Valley hawk, Patrick panther, Jewett jaguar, Central Point Elementary roadrunner and the Mae Richardson ram — cheered until the last runner appeared.

Following the run, the mascots had a dance-off in hopes of winning a year’s worth of bragging rights.

Crater High track athlete Lindsay Siebert, 17, remembered the excitement of the Halloween running event as a Central Point Elementary student. Like the other Crater athletes, Siebert remembered how she placed each of the two years. A senior, Siebert recently committed to run for Washington State University next year.

“My fourth-grade year, I got 70-something. My fifth-grade year I got sixth. I remember that was like the highlight of my whole year,” she said.

Sibert remembered the brisk fall cold and the fun of running down the country road.

“I remember the horses out there and I remember the gravel we ran on — just the whole experience,” said the teen.

“I’m here now looking at these kids and I’m like, ‘That’s how small I was?’ I remember I thought I was so much bigger. It was so much fun and felt like such a big deal to run the race back then. … It’s really cool to get to come back.”