A Boston University student beat out about 3,000 runners to claim the top prize in the annual Blessing of the Fleet road race Saturday, part of a full weekend of events in Narragansett.

The race is a part of a two-day series of events coordinated by the Narragansett Lions Club that included a seafood festival and a blessing of a fleet of vessels in Galilee. Thousands of New Englanders travel to Narragansett every year to take part.

Racers Saturday were fortunate to have the weather on their side, as a light mist and overcast skies prevented overheating during the scenic 10-mile trek around the seaside community.

Craig MacPherson, a student at Boston University and a member of the men’s cross country team, finished in first place for the running group and stressed that putting forth enough dedication to the race ultimately helped him.

“The first goal is to come down here and run as hard as you can and see where the chips fall,” MacPherson said. “Obviously, if you’re in heavy training it’s not the single most important race of the year but you still want to come down here and put out a blood and guts kind of thing — practice the skill of racing as well as seeing where your fitness has grown from last year.”

The race began on South Pier Road near the entrance to the Narragansett Pier Middle School. Racers then turned south on Ocean Road and veered west onto Knowles Way. The race continued north on Route 108 where participants turned onto Old Point Judith Road and Kinney Avenue. Turns onto Gibson Avenue and back onto South Pier Road left about two miles until the finish.

Participants ventured through Avice Street and finally Kingstown Road, where the finish was near the Narragansett Post Office. MacPherson said the most difficult stretch to run came about the midway point.

“It came at about five miles,” MacPherson said. “I was about 30 seconds faster than I thought I was and I knew I was having a good day and everything, but at the same time from five to six-and-a-half (miles) it was pretty ugly.”

MacPherson said he and a teammate from Boston University entered the race to see where their fitness stood. MacPherson’s ideology heading into the race was to push himself with all he had instead of conserving energy and running conservatively.

Road races are different from competitive races in that there are people who choose to run or walk for a cause or simply just for fun. However, MacPherson still enjoys to be a part of a race with so many participants that retains a comfortable community atmosphere.

“You have thousands of people so there’s the element of a very intense and difficult competition, which I absolutely love,” MacPherson said. “But then it’s also kind of a community thing. It’s like a big party out there as well.”

To see a map of the race route, click here.