By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The hills of Fort Tryon Park will be alive with the sound of runners, as firefighters, police and Port Authority workers join more than 7,000 competitors at the "Coogan’s Salsa, Blues & Shamrocks 5K Race" Sunday.
The 13th annual race circles the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Cloisters Museum and Gardens along the Hudson River in bucolic Fort Tryon Park, a course the New York Road Runners Club calls "the best road race outside of Central Park."
More than 25 different musical groups, including gospel, bagpipes, merengue, klezmer, salsa and brass bands along the route, will cheer runners on along with the annual hordes of Upper Manhattan residents who historically have lined the course.
For runners and celebrants, the event ends with a party at Coogan’s Restaurant, an Irish pub and neighborhood anchor located at 169th Street and Broadway, which has sponsored the event for the past 13 years.
"We wanted to take the streets back and make them safe for the children of this neighborhood," Peter Walsh, owner of Coogan's and the race's chairman, said of the race's founding in the late 1990s.
Proceeds from the race go to the Armory Track And Field Center, on 168th Street and Fort Washington Avenue, and the USA Track And Field Hall Of Fame, the national governing body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States.
Registration for adults closed last week, but the kids race is still open. Parents interested can sign up children from 8:45 to 9:45 a.m. the day of the race.
Kids will receive medals awarded by local firefighters and police.
