CAMDEN, S.C. (WACH) - Rain was in the forecast Saturday, but it held off in Camden as tens of thousands flocked to the annual Carolina Cup horse race.

Sumter's Lark Haynie has been coming to the Carolina Cup longer than she'd like to admit, But, that's just fine with the Sumter woman because she and her group of friends wouldn't miss the sights and sounds of the yearly event for anything.

"We just have a really relaxed crowd, a fun crowd and we're just glad to be here to enjoy it," said Haynie. "We've gone when it's 80 degrees and sunshine to 40 degrees and rain."

Saturday's Carolina Cup was the 80th installment of the annual rite of spring. The one-day event draws upwards of 60,000 people every year.

"It's been around for so long and you grew up coming in college or as a child," said Haynie.

For nearly the last decade, Haynie and a tight-knit group of friends have been making the yearly trip to Springdale Race Course.

"It's really a lot of fun. I think it's just a tremendous celebration of spring," said Pete Wright, who helps organize the annual visit. "It's a great time to spend with friends and family."

While the crowds come in for just one day a year, the partygoers aren't the only ones who make the annual pilgrimage. It's what goes on here the rest of the year that is a big economic driver for small-town Camden.

After the crowds are gone, the horses are still there. Trainers like Janet Elliott come in from out-of-state during the winter months. Elliot has a farm in Pennsylvania, but spends January through May training horses at Springdale.

"We come here to Camden because it's a lovely sandy soil," said Elliott. "It's a very good training center. It's manicured beautifully."

Roughly 1,000 horses come through Camden's training facilities each year.

"The horse industry as a whole in Kershaw County really does mean business," said Laura Shull of the Carolina Cup Racing Assocation.

And it's a business that people like Lark Haynie and company are glad to be part of even if it is just for one day a year.

"It's nostalgic," said Haynie. "It just keeps you grounded to who you are in the South and it's a great Southern tradition."