Deep fields emerge

One defending champion will look to hold onto his title and a highly decorated field of women will challenge for top honors in the elite fields at Sunday’s 31st Bloomsday.

Kenya’s Gilbert Okari, the 2006 Bloomsday champion and 2005 runner-up, headlines the men’s race – again loaded with Kenya’s finest.

Okari won last year in 34 minutes, 14 seconds to beat fellow Kenyan Charles Kiama Munyeki, who is also entered in this year’s race. Earlier this year, Okari won the World’s Best 10K race, finishing in 28:08.

“This is the deepest men’s field ever assembled,” Bloomsday associate president and elite field coordinator Jon Neill said. “We have several winners from prestige races – the competition is going to be quite severe.”

Munyeki will challenge Okari, as will 2003 and 2005 Bloomsday champion John Korir, also of Kenya.

Ethiopia’s Tadesse Tola, this year’s Cherry Blossom Classic champion, and Kenya’s Simon Ndirangu, the 2007 Carlsbad 5,000 champion, are also in contention.

Returning to the master’s field is Washington State University graduate Henry Rono. In his collegiate career, the 55-year-old Kenyan became the third person in history – after Gerry Lindgren and Steve Prefontaine – to win a third NCAA men’s cross country title.

“Henry Rono shattered just about every record you can in distance running,” Neill said. “His goal is to break the world master’s mile record for the 55-59 age group.”

In the women’s race, a new champion will be crowned. Defending champion Isabella Ochichi of Kenya is not in this year’s field, leaving the field open for a new champion.

Kenya still boasts a favorite to win – this time leaning on Catherine Ndereba.

According to Neill, Ndereba’s silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympic games marathon and her four Boston Marathon victories (‘00-01, ‘04-05) have earned her the title of “Catherine the Great.”

She will likely have tight competition from Great Britain’s Kathy Butler, last year’s fourth-place finisher with a time of 39:29, and Ethiopia’s Teyba Erkesso.

Erkesso has had a strong start to 2007. She had already won four races, including her world-record setting performance at the Cherry Blossom 10-mile race, where she shattered Boston Marathon champion Lydiya Grigoryeva’s 10-mile time of 52:11, finishing in 51:44.

Ndereba is joined by the usual strong list of Kenyans. Emily Chebet and Jemima Jelagat should also be considered strong contenders, Neill said.

The elite wheelchair division also boasts a strong field.

Elite wheelchair coordinator Tom Cameron called this year’s field the most exciting in 10 years, citing two specific reasons: a high number of junior athletes and a collegiate competition between the University of Arizona and University of Illinois-Champaign – a first for Bloomsday.

Nine-time defending men’s champion Saul Mendoza is still the favorite. Mendoza has more than 200 road race victories in his career, including six Los Angeles Marathon titles. In 2000, he won the 1,500-meter race with a record-breaking performance at the Sydney Olympics.

Ferris graduate and 2006 second-place finisher Tyler Byers is also back in the field, along with the favorite to challenge Mendoza, Illinois-Champaign’s Joshua George. On the women’s side, Cameron calls defending champion Shirley Reilly (Arizona) the odds-on favorite to win.