Little Great Race organizers warn of unofficial website

The annual event will take place Saturday morning in Charleroi.

Organizers of the Charleroi Little Great Race are warning participants about an unofficial registration website ahead of Saturday’s event.

Race volunteer Mike Lucas said a listing on RaceEntry. com for the “Little Great Race” is not the event’s official registration site. Organizers also say the race date and time listed on that website are not accurate.

The correct online registration is through https://runsignup. com/Race/PA/Charleroi/ CharleroiLittleGreatRace.

“If you Google Charleroi Little Great Race, you’ll see the RunSignUp site, which is the official site, comes up first,” Lucas said. “You’ll see our Facebook page second. And then Race Entry. So they’re getting hits.”

Lucas is concerned that someone searching for the race could come across the RaceEntry listing and mistakenly believe it’s connected to the Charleroi event.

“That’s my concern, is that somebody is going to look at that and they’re going to take that site and then get duped,” Lucas said.

Organizers sent nearly 600 emails today to people who have registered for the race in previous years but have not yet signed up this year. Lucas said they hope the message reaches anyone who may have used the unofficial site.

“We’re hoping that if anybody did use it, they’re in that group, and that they’ll contact us,” Lucas said. “At that point, we can figure out what the next step is.”

Participants still have several opportunities to register through the race organizers.

Pre-registration continues today from 5 to 6 p.m. at Trustees Park in Charleroi. The fee is $25 today and increases to $30 on race day.

Saturday’s festivities begin at 7:30 a.m. at Chamber Plaza, where participants will also be able to register.

This year’s race will once again turn the longstanding community tradition into support for several local causes. Proceeds will benefit the Charleroi Area School District Harvest Bounty Food Program, Rostraver West Newton Emergency Services, Charleroi Volunteer Fire Department, Charleroi Regional Police Department K-9 Fund and the Chester “Let’s Fight Cancer Together” Foundation.

Over the race’s nearly four-decade history, more than $100,000 has been raised for local organizations.