It was 1987 when Lynch, a native of Austria and a former resident of Tennessee and Illinois before going into the insurance business in Ames, became involved in the race.
"This is my 22nd year," said Lynch, attired (as usual) in his cape, tights and mask, and helping nail down the last of the race details Saturday evening in the Ames City Hall gymnasium."
In the gym and along Sixth Street waited many of the nearly 1,700 people who'd registered for the 10K race.
"We had 1,500 last year," Lynch said.
And where did the heightened interest come from this time around?
"The floods may have had something to do with it," he said.
"Cedar Rapids had to cancel a race, and I'll bet we picked up some runners from there. Plus the weather is nice this evening, and I think it brought out some late registrations."
Mason City's Dave Nauman, 52, is well-acquainted with Captain Midnight.
"I've probably run 15 of these races," said Nauman, who stopped by to shake hands with Lynch. Naumann said he planned to watch from the sidelines last night.
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Outside the gym, Captain Midnight's able assistant, Twinkles, was chatting with Ames runners Tylor Husske and his mother, Mary. Twinkles' outfit - a lavender pinafore, a wand and a sequined mask - looked like a cross between a Disney princess dress and a Mardi Gras parade get-up.
She agreed to reveal her "secret identity," that of Mary Madsen, of Ames.
"Somewhere in the past, I used to coach this fellow," she laughed, gesturing to Tylor Husske.
Mary Husske said it's no surprise that otherwise sane people would show up by the hundreds to run 6.2 miles on a Saturday night in July.
"It's fun," she said.
"And then there's the beer," said Tylor, who said that the family decided to run after his wife, Katie, signed them all up.
Bob Zientara can be reached at 232-2161, Ext. 487, or rzientara@amestrib.com.
