ALBANY, N.Y. -- Hundreds of people are celebrating Halloween a little early this year as they take a run through Thatcher Park all decked out in costumes. It's all part of the fifth annual Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon and Squirrelly Six Mile.

The event's organizer says the Albany Running Exchange was looking for a fun way to incorporate their love of running with Halloween and came up with this 5K.

"We like to make it fun. the course is decorated in the spirit of Halloween, we're putting bananas on the course that people have to pick up and finish with- we got guys with chainsaws chasing people- Gorilla Costumes jumping out of the woods. There's a lot of 5K road races out there. This is something you don't find anywhere else,” said Josh Merlis, race director.

Organizers say competitors came from 13 states, including as far as Iowa and Colorado to run in Sunday's race.