It’s hard enough running 7.6 miles around a track or on relatively flat streets around the neighborhood, especially on a hot, humid day when t-shirts seem to melt away amid the sweat and strain of the strict test of endurance.

If you think that’s hard, try running the entire 7.6 miles uphill, along one of the steepest roads in the country, while climbing the tallest peak in New England.

Runners from across the world will attempt to do just that Saturday at the 44th running of the Mount Washington Road Race, which starts at the base of the auto road on Route 16 in the Mount Washington Valley and climbs 4,723 feet to the peak.

“It’s a different race every year, really,” Minot’s Faye Gagnon said. “The temperature is never the same from year to year, and that alone makes it a very different race.”

Gagnon, 59, is one of the more experienced Maine runners in the field. She has finished either first or second in her age group in eight of the last nine years, which has automatically qualified her for the following year’s race.

“Every year, when I am about half of the way up, I always ask myself why,” Gagnon said with a laugh. “I basically do it because I love hill running.”

This year, because she finished third in the 55-59 age group, she would have had to enter a lottery to determine whether or not she could even race again this year.

Enter fellow Minot resident Bob Poirier, 49.

“She’s a good runner,” Poirier said of Gagnon. “She’s very consistent. When you are part of a group like the Central Maine Striders, you are allowed five entries into the race in exchange for bringing volunteers to help out at the race.”

A consistent runner in his own right, Poirier will also be competing in this year’s race.

“The best thing about running is that you can enter a race like this against some of the best runners in the world and be treated equally,” Poirier said. “If you play baseball or football, the chances of going to a Super Bowl or something of the like is very small to none, but with running you can go to events like these and be on the same level as the professionals and the elite. Yes, they’ll beat me, but the fact that I am there at all is the best part.”

Poirier’s best time is in the 1:15 range, and he expects to finish in about 1:25 this year, depending, of course, on the weather.

“When I was in high school, I liked to hike a lot,” Poirier said. “I got into running after that, and decided why not combine the two. This race is a great example of that.”

For Gagnon, who used to run in the popular Maine Mountain Running Series in the early 1990s, turning 60 doesn’t mean that she plans to slow down at all.

“I will certainly look to get in again next year, too,” Gagnon said. “I always look to finish in a decent amount of time. The cutoff, I think, is around three hours.”

With times between 1:45 and 2-hours, Gagnon still has a long way to go before being cut off.

She also has a long climb ahead of her Saturday.

NOTES: This year’s race also serves as the USATF National Mountain Running Championships. The top two American women and top three men will be named to the U.S. team. … The 2002 race was the only time that it was shortened to half the original length due to extreme weather conditions at the summit. … There is usually snow visible along the road above tree-line, even in late June. … The race was first held in the 1930s. It became an annual event in 1966.

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… The men’s record time for the 7.6-mile course is 58:20.5 seconds set in 1996 by Kenyan Daniel Kihara. The women’s record is 1:10:08, held by Magdelena Thorsell and set in 1998.

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