BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) — Hundreds of schools from the tri-state area had runners in the Valley for the 38th annual Boardman Spartan Invitational cross-country race on Saturday.

Races started at 9 a.m. and took place throughout the day.

The invitational featured around 360 to 400 high school teams and 75 middle school teams throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Meet manager Dave Pavlansky says so many people behind-the-scenes — from parking to medical to registration — have worked hard throughout the day, making an event like this more enjoyable for the runners.

“Well, on a day like today, it’s a lot of fun. It’s a nice sunny day, the course is fast, kids who don’t get to compete in a big meet get to do that,” Pavlansky said. “There’s a lot of good competition, and — you know — dogs and frisbees and football, it’s a nice day.”

Pavlansky says they’ve received quite a bit of support from their sponsors and organizations, which helped make the meet possible.

T.J. Renninger contributed to this report.