Photo by Doug Koontz Runners in the Twilight 5K run through Mt. Olivet Cemetery Saturday night.

“It felt pretty awesome,” said Hicks, a 16-year old Frederick residentk. “I kept looking back, like, ‘Where is everybody?’”

Hicks trotted the entire path of gravel outlining the outfield, turned back south toward the belly of the stadium and crossed the finish line in 17:55 to win Saturday’s Twilight 5K, a precursor to today’s fifth annual Frederick Marathon.

Saturday’s course layout took 490 runners — the largest number of participants in the history of the event — out from the parking lot of Harry Grove Stadium and across the street into Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Competitors looped through the churchyard, navigating its narrow service roads before returning to the home of the Frederick Keys, where the finish line waited after a tour of the outfield.

Hicks — a sophomore member of the cross country and track teams at Tuscarora High — said his work in the mile and half-mile runs this spring with the Titans came in handy on Saturday.

“This course was a nice change,” said Hicks, who tried out the 5K last year, when the course explored Downtown Frederick . “The cemetery was cool to run through, and the stadium, coming through along the scoreboard. It’s good to win a race. I never thought I would.”

While Hicks was the overall pacesetter, 75 seconds later, women’s winner Darcy Strouse and her fluorescent yellow tank top were hard to miss as she crossed the finish line. All things considered, the Urbana resident couldn’t complain about her time of 19:10. “I’m a long-time runner, but with three kids, I’m coaching now,” Strouse said. “I hardly ever race. This was fun, but I don’t have too much left. I’m so out of racing shape.”

Strouse works with the Lightning Running Club, a local youth cross country program. She had her first experience with the Twilight on Saturday, and it was her first time in a competitive race since January. “I like this course. I raced it years ago when the Keys had their 5K run,” Strouse said. “It felt good.” The running restarts today at 7:30 a.m. from the same location, with the Marathon, Half-Marathon, and Four-Person Team Relay.

Officials expect over 3,000 runners from all over the world to compete in the Marathon, a 26.2-mile journey through the City of Frederick .