Because it's a great course, it's a great challenge, it's great fun and it's great exercise. Add it all up, and it's the 29th annual Great Race, sponsored by the Los Gatos Rotary Club. And participants agree that it's a grrreat race!

If past year's races are any indication, more than 2,500 runners should take off when the starting gun blasts at 9 a.m. on April 2.

It's a great course that runs alongside Highway 9 from Saratoga to Los Gatos, and it's a 4-mile course that provides runners with a great challenge. What's more, entrants can have some great fun and get some great exercise as they run or walk the four miles from one town to the other.

For the 23rd straight year, the Los Gatos Rotary Club will sponsor the race that actually dates back to 1978.

The origin of the Great Race can be traced back to '78 when Bill Glennon, then the mayor of Saratoga, suggested a race between the neighboring communities.

In the early days of the event, runners would start in both Saratoga and Los Gatos and race past each other on Highway 9 on their way to the two different finish lines in the two communities.

The race was limited to residents of Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga, and the community registering the most runners would be awarded the Glennon Cup.

While the race was a popular annual event in the area, lack of sponsorship threatened its existence in the early 1980s. In 1984, the Rotary Club stepped in to take over sponsorship of the event and its popularity continues to grow each year.

There were 1,300 runners in the Great Race in '84, but that total grew to more than 2,000 by 1987 and the number of entrants has remained over 2,000 each year since that time.

The race will start in Saratoga at Big Basin Way and Third Street. Runners will jog down Highway 9 and make a right turn on N. Santa Cruz Avenue before finishing at Bean Avenue in the middle of town.

The registration fee for the 4-mile run is $25 and proceeds will benefit the charities supported by the Los Gatos Rotary Club.

Race information is available at the Runner's Factory, 51 University Ave., and at Athletic Performance, 55 W. Main St. For more information, or to register online, visit www.losgatosrotary.org.