SYRACUSE — Christmas is getting closer than you might think, but don’t worry. This year you only need your running shoes, not your snow boots.

Just a day after the annual Flotilla parade on Lake Wawasee, runners and walkers will carry the “Christmas in July” theme over to the streets of Syracuse for the annual Flotilla Road Race.

The increasingly popular event will be held Monday, July 4, beginning at the Syracuse Community Center/Lakeside Park and stretching throughout Syracuse.

The event is comprised of several formats to suit participants – a 3.3- mile run, an 8-mile run and a 3.3-mile fun walk. The course leads away from Lakeside Park and the SCC to the north and takes the 3.3-milers up and around Maxwelton Golf Club. Merging along South County Line Road and then later Northshore Drive, runners and walkers get a view of the golf course’s front and back nines as well as glimpses of Syracuse Lake on the back stretch of the race grid.

The 8-milers will continue on through the 3.3-mile finish and into Syracuse, projecting south into Oakwood Park and back north, eventually rejoining Northshore Drive to hit the finish line back at Lakeside Park.
The race winners are split into age divisions, beginning with kids and going through senior divisions. Masters winners are also recognized, and all walkers receive a ribbon.

The race is put on annually by Brian Shepherd and his family, along with several local and regional sponsors. The race is run under the direction of the Flotilla committee.

The race is in its 39th year overall and hosted 520 registered walkers and runners in 2015, just a few ticks down from its record-setting year in 2014 (544).

Forms for the race can be picked up at Team Tuttle Mortgage, 813 S. Huntington St., Syracuse or download from the Fort Wayne Track Association website at fwtc.org