The fifth annual Asbury Park 5K road race will take place Saturday. Race director Phil Hinck is expecting 1,000 or so runners to compete in the event, which begins at 8:30 a.m. A year ago, 868 people, many from Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex counties, participated.

The two-loop course will once again start on Fifth Avenue at Bradley Park near Kingsley Street. Runners will proceed along Fifth before turning left onto Grand Avenue, then left onto Cookman Avenue, and into Ocean Avenue before going around again and finishing up on the boardwalk.

"Spectators love the course because they get to see the runners twice," Hinck explained. "Runners like it because it's flat and fast."

The race began five years ago and organizers picked the second Saturday in August for the 5K to pay tribute to the former Asbury Park 10K Classic, which moved up the road to Red Bank in the 1990s to become the George Sheehan Classic.

"We also chose a 5K because more people are able to do that distance," Hinck added. "The casual runner nowadays runs one or two miles and does other activities like cycling. To them, five miles seems a long way."

Noel Brock, who won both the Spring Lake Five and the George Sheehan Classic earlier this summer, is registered to run. Last year she finished second in the women's race in 17:42, seven seconds back of winner Heidi Wolfsberger of Moosic, Pa. Ethiopian Olympian Girma Tolla won the men's race with a time of 14:35. Robert Cavanaugh, of West Long Branch, who won the Sea Girt 5K on Sunday, will also be on hand.

At press time, neither Tolla nor Wolfsberger had signed up, but Hinck said he always holds out race bib numbers 1 and 2 for the prior year's winners.

"You never know who will show up on race day," he said.

The 3.1-mile race is the fourth leg of the Jersey Shore Golden Grand Prix, which also includes the Spring Lake Five, the George Sheehan Classic, the Belmar 5 and the Pier Village (Long Branch) 5K. Water stations will be positioned along the course and complimentary refreshments will be available following the race in Atlantic Square Park.

Registration will be available online at www.jsrc.org or on race day beginning at 7 a.m. in Atlantic Square Park across from Convention Hall. The entry fee is $25.

A series of Kids Races will be held in the park immediately following the 5K. The entry fee is $10. Proceeds from the event go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County. Participants also receive free beach access for the day.