The race horn that signals the start of the annual Freihofer's 5K Run for Women is one 1,870 participants won't hear this year as they take off.

It's a sound Annamarie Anderson and Danielle Kiser, both race ambassadors, know well.

"I ran the Freihofer's, actually, when I was really little," said Anderson, of Saratoga Springs. "Me and my brother would do the kids' fun run."

"The first one I ever did was just the big one, at 10 years old," said Kiser, of Glens Falls. "My mother and my grandmother... told me that after they let me go and run around Albany by myself, or what seemed like by myself, at 10 years old. Apparently, they were crying, they were so worried and scared."

Things are a little different these days. Now Kiser's mom runs with her, and her grandma is always waiting at the finish line. For Anderson and her brother, back then, it was all about the cookies. But since 2017, she's been running the race with a group of girlfriends.

This year, though, that run won’t happen on the usual course in Albany. The Freihofer’s Run has gone virtual. Runners can run a 5K course, either in public or on a treadmill, any time between Saturday, May 23, at 6 a.m. and Sunday, May 31, at 11 p.m., and submit their results on the Freihofer’s site.

"I'm kind of quarantining with my friend, so me and her are still going to run it on the same Saturday, May 30," Anderson said. "So we're going to run it together on one of my favorite loops in Saratoga."

Kiser is going to run through her neighborhood in Glens Falls, without her mom and grandma, but is hoping to call them while she completes her 5K. She says even though the race won't be quite the same, she's looking forward to taking her time.

"I don't really necessarily want to run it for speed this year, I just want to really enjoy how beautiful the weather's going to be this weekend and just be able to take it all in," Kiser said. "And my neighbors are pretty close, so maybe they'll set up a little finish line for me, which would be cute."

Kiser says going for a run each day has given her structure during this uncertain time, and the 5K is something to look forward to. She credits her first race all those years ago to her whole career.

"That's really where my health and wellness journey started, and why I became a dietician, because I was like, 'How do I get faster? How do I get better? How do I get stronger?' " Kiser said. "And now I channel that into working athletes of all ages and being able to have them grow with runners, too, and push the Freihofer's race as great race to try, because it's mostly women I work with, so that's been special to do."

Anderson, a teacher, says while getting to the finish without her family and the crowd won't be the same, she's enjoyed seeing how other women are planning to run the race in their Facebook group.

"It's totally empowering when you get there [the finish line]. I get chills every single time. There's people on the sidelines cheering you on," Anderson said. "It'll be weird not having that kind of support, but I think still knowing so many people are running it, everyone will still get something good out of it."