Sam Fowler has been climbing the ladder of High Point Volunteer Fire Co.’s Dog Day Road Race for nearly 10 years, first trekking through the streets of Harvey Cedars in 2016, when he was 14 years old.

“My grandparents had a beach house on the Island all through my high school years and I’d come to this race,” said Fowler, a recent Lafayette College graduate who last ran the race in 2019, before going off to college. “I loved this race growing up, so I figured I’d come back and do it again.