More than 12,000 runners hit the streets Saturday at the 45th annual Spring Lake 5-mile run along Ocean Avenue.

The race is known to many as the unofficial start to summer and is a family tradition that has kept runners coming back year after year.

“It feels great, we have great weather. It’s a beautiful day to kick off the summer, and our runners are having a great time,” said race director Ed Hale. “Everyone is out here really enjoying themselves.”

For some runners, it meant taking in the joys of the race that was deeply missed the last few years.

“It's great after a couple years because of COVID not being able to have the race to have everyone back to kick off the summer. Such a great experience and great weather,” Hale said.

Jennifer Naughton, the mayor of Spring Lake, said there were a lot of family parties and beaches and pools are open for Memorial Day weekend.

“We are open for business Memorial Day weekend and we’re happy to have our residents and visitors,” Naughton said.

“We meet probably every other month in the winter and monthly as the race gets closer. We’ve been doing it a long time and so people know what they are doing, and we bring in new volunteers year after year,” she said.

Elite runners crossed the finish line around the 25- or 26-minute mark. Medals were given out to all participants.

By the afternoon, the streets were cleared, and Ocean Avenue was back to business as usual.