Some upbeat music is blaring from the speakers near the finish line.

People are walking the grounds north of Boardman High School.

There’s a touch of humidity and plenty of sun as the temperature reaches 80 degrees.

Fans line parallel to the parking lot as runners start to make their way through the final mile of the Spartan Invitational, one of the biggest cross country races in Ohio — drawing teams from western Pennsylvania and around Ohio.

Arrays of team tents are spread throughout the property, along with the wafting smells of a couple of food trucks.

Awards given and plenty of vendors on site.

That was 2019.

Masks. Social distancing. COVID-19 pandemic.

This is 2020.

This year’s Spartan Invitational is happening this season, but without the pomp and circumstance of years past.

“This year, we just have to scale back,” meet director Dave Pavlansky said. “Some of that joy can’t be there, but we are going to be able to run.”

The plastic snow fence along Glenwood Avenue will be in place, the same one used for the last couple of regional meets in Boardman. Spectators will pay $5 each with tickets paid for online and scanned as they enter Boardman. Every runner is limited to three family members.

The event, normally run in one day, is split over two days with Division III runners competing on Sept. 17, and Division I runners in the morning of Sept. 19, with Division II runners in the afternoon of Sept. 19.

Teams will be limited to 10 competitors with the only first 45 teams from the northeast Ohio region in each division and or gender will be accepted.

No middle school races will be run this year, but Mark Lipinsky from Second Sole has weekday races for those athletes.

“It’s a shame they won’t be able to run the invitational this year,” Pavlansky said.

Why? There is an hour and a half between sections of races. Division III has sessions A and B, while Divisions I and II has sessions A, B and C.

Pavlansky said the Ohio High School Athletic Association and the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches came up with a list of modifications due to the coronavirus outbreak and presented it to the Ohio Department of Health.

“That is what prompted them to downgrade cross country from a contact sport to a non-contact sport,” Pavlansky said. “The time in between is basically to allow those 30 teams and their spectators to completely leave the facility before the next 30 teams come on.”

Starts for each race are different.

The maximum number of runners on the line is 150 with 15 12-by-12 foot blocks, allowing for social distancing. Each block has 6 feet of space in between to account for social distancing.

“We are going to utilize wave starts that only 50 people will be in a choke point of the course early before they have a chance to spread out,” Pavlansky said. “Let’s say our first gun goes off at 8:30 in the morning. When that goes off, boxes 1, 4, 7, 10 and 13 are going to take off. Then we’re going to shoot the gun again at 8:31, Then boxes 2, 5, 8, 11 and 14 will take off. Then we’ll shoot the gun again at 8:32. The last five boxes will take off.”

Ted Rupe and Gopher Running will coordinate the races. He’ll program chips for those runners staggered so they all get accurate times.

Final results won’t be known until the final runner finishes in the last session. Everyone can keep track of live results on www.baumspage.com/cc/ccevent.php?peventid=125&table=C or www.spartaninvite.com

There will be a bike rack barricade well away from the finish line.

Pavlansky said each team has one coach or adult supervisor in the finish area to take their runners, get them moved out, cool them down and move them on to their respective buses. No more lingering around in the finish chute.

“We’d like people to be on their bus and on their way 15 to 20 minutes of them finishing the race,” Pavlansky said.

Akron Children’s Hospital sports medicine doctors Dr. Zaid Khatib and Dr. Christopher Liebig will lead a staff on site, something that has been at the invitational for the past couple of seasons.

“If anybody gets in trouble, we have a mini ER (emergency room) there,” Pavlansky said. “What we don’t want to do is have people congregating there who don’t need to be there. A lot of times kids need to get up and walk things off rather than lay around.”

There will be a maximum of 270 teams, 135 boys and 135 girls, for all divisions (I through III), but Pavlansky said he expects around 2,000 to 2,400 runners.

“Teamwise, we’re going to be able to hold as many teams as before, but we are going to be at a little less than half capacity in terms of the number of runners we normally accommodate,” Pavlansky said. “We don’t know if we’ll get 45 teams for each division. We assume we would. We’re at 30ish right now (Sept. 2).”

For this event to be successful in the midst of a pandemic, Pavlansky emphasizes following the rules.

There will be signs and people around the course reminding them to wear a mask if they have forgotten to do so. He doesn’t want any confrontations at the races.

Coaches and athletic director will communicate with their athletes and parents what to do on race day.

“It’s doing what the health department expects of us,” Pavlansky said. “Ultimately, if someone from the health department shows up and we have large groups and we’re not socially distancing or there’s a lot of non-mask wearing, the health department can just shut us down that day. Then nobody is going to run later.

“We’re going to do a good job communicating to coaches and athletic departments. They’re going to do a good job communicating to their folks. In large, most people are going to follow these expectations because they realize the need for them. We’re going to get a 95 to 99 percent compliance. I would feel good about that.”