LONGMONT – Longmont will be the starting point for the 2013 “Fireball Run,” a combination road rally and trivia game that has been broadcast online since 2007.

The run begins here on Sept. 20 and finishes in Riverside, Calif. on Sept. 28. Forty teams will compete in the event, with participants to include astronaut Jon McBride, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame president Terry Stewart, and “Car Warriors” host Ray McClelland.

“They don’t go to the cities like Denver, by choice,” Doug Bene, the city’s economic development manager, said at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. “They go to the lesser-known ones. They want the communities that have a unique story.”

It’s a run, not a race, since speed doesn’t help competitors. To move across the country, teams have to solve puzzles and accomplish tasks appropriate to each region they go through. The event also promotes the recovery of missing children, with each team assigned a child from their hometown region and instructed to distribute posters around the area. According to the show’s organizers, the campaign has helped recover 38 children since 2007.

The start of the run will come at the same time as the local Oktoberfest and the downtown Artwalk.

Executive director Joe Ward of Visit Longmont, which worked with the city in getting the event, said that as host city, Longmont could field its own team of racers if it wanted to.

“I don’t think I’ll be one of them,” he added with a chuckle.