Weather permitting, one of the most competitive races in years is expected in both the male and female divisions of the 29th annual Ogden Newspapers 20K Run and Walk in Wheeling on Saturday.

Thunderstorms and showers are in the forecast, but Race Director Howard V. Corcoran hopes the skies won't open up during the hours the weekend events take place.

Festivities begin this evening on the streets adjacent to WesBanco Arena. Scheduled are the Ogden Tiny Tot Trot - sponsored by Ohio Valley Parent Magazine - starting at 6:45 p.m., followed at 7 p.m. by the Ogden Fun Run and concluding with the fast-paced Ogden Mile at 7:15 p.m.

Saturday's action begins at 7:30 a.m. when the 20K Walkers leave the start-finish line. The 20K run starts at 8 a.m. sharp, while the field for the 5K Run and Walk For Your Health gets going at 8:15 a.m.

Julius Kibet, the defending champion in the men's Open Division, tuned up for his Wheeling appearance last Sunday by winning a 10K race held in conjunction with the Cleveland Marathon.

Kibet was timed in 28 minutes, 44 seconds. Isaac Arusei, another of Saturday's 20K entrants from Kenya, was third with a clocking of 29:30.

In last year's Ogden 20K Classic, Kibet scored an impressive victory when he pulled away in the latter stages from fellow Kenyan Joseah Matui to turn in a time of 1:02:13.

Kibet will be facing challenges from some highly-touted elite runners who opted to come to Wheeling for this year's race. Among his main competitors figure to be Mohammed Ar-Ar, a native of Morocco and Arusei, winner of last year's Parkersburg Half-Marathon. A couple of late entrants, Fred Getango and Henry Ongechi, also could make a run at the title.

Getango and Ongechi are Kenyans who now run out of Chapel Hill, N.C. In this year's Baltimore Marathon, Getango finished second in the time of 2 hours, 16 minutes, 33 seconds. Ongechi was seventh in the same race in 2:27:18 and has also has recorded a third in the Bridge-to-Bridge run and 10th in the Salt Lake City Marathon.

From the local standpoint, two former Wheeling Jesuit University standouts Dustin Meeker and Ricky Moore are gunning for top 10 finishes. Meeker was eighth in last year's race with a time of 1:15:09, while Moore is running in the Ogden 20K Classic for the first time since 2001. His college track commitments kept him out of the race the past few years, but he has been training hard in hopes of being among the top finishers this time.

Moore's last Wheeling distance race saw him place ninth with a sharp time of 1:06:50.

Race officials are also anticipating a torrid duel for the women's Open title. Although 2004 winner Naomi Wangui has yet to enter, the field includes 2005 Debbie Green Memorial 5K winner Denisa Costescu, a native of Romania who now runs out of Detroit, Mich.

Costescu and Morgantown's Heather Bury, who also is entered in the Ogden 20K, were the top two female runners in the Green event last year.

It's been a good spring so far for Costescu, who recently captured the That's Good For Life 5K in Oak Park, Ill., with a time of 17 minutes, 21 seconds. She had two other wins during the past month, finishing first in the Twin Cities 1-Mile event in 5:05 and the Trolley 5K held in Kansas City.

Bury is a well-known runner to Wheeling race fans, as the ex-Mountaineer standout has won the female division of the Ogden Mile on at least three occasions.

Kimberly Saddic, former George Mason University track standout, has also entered, hoping to better her second-place finish of 2004.

Some other top flight women entrants include Stacy Ritz, former Ball State University cross-county All-American; Maria Spinnler, ex-Eastern Kentucky standout who was a member of four straight Ohio Valley Conference harrier championship teams, and Susan Graham Gray, a blind runner from the Baltimore, Md., area who has held a lot of success in road racing events.

Gray won this year's Frederick, Md., Marathon in the time of 2 hours, 56 minutes, 57 seconds, and was fourth in the Baltimore Marathon in 2:52:57.

Saturday morning, the honorary starters will be Tom Fleming, a 2005 Ogden Hall of Fame inductee, and Bill Mercer and Mike Caruso. Fleming will start the 20K walkers and runners on their way, while Mercer and Caruso will handle those duties for the 5K entrants. Ron DiLorenzo will play the national anthem on his trumpet following a presentation of the United States flag by the boys and girls track teams at Wheeling Park High School.

Fleming also will be the public address announcer during the race, keeping the folks gathered around WesBanco Arena aware of what is happening on the course.

More than $11,000 in prize money will be paid out at the conclusion of Saturday's 20K. Identical cash awards go to the top eight male and females in the 20K Open Run. The winners in the Open Division receive $2,000 each. Second place is worth $1,500, while third place finishers collect $1,500. Fourth place is worth $1,000. Runners placing fifth through eighth receive $125 each.

All of the 20K Run and Walk awards are to be presented at the post-race banquet inside WesBanco Arena. The 5K Run for Your Health awards are to be distributed immediately following that event on the steps of WesBanco Arena.

Master of Ceremonies for the 20K awards dinner will be Mark Ridgley, advertising sales manager for The Intelligencer/ Wheeling News-Register and an assistant race director. Renae Eikey of Wheeling Park High School is scheduled to sing the national anthem. Randy Wharton of the Ohio County Commission will offer a welcome to the participants, followed by the invocation presented by pastor Michael Amico.

Perry Nardo, general manager of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register, also will offer opening remarks, while Ridgley will present a thank-you to the major race sponsors - The Ogden Newspapers, Mason Rehab Center, Wheeling Island Racetrack & Gaming Center, United Bank and Wheeling Hospital.

The Hall of Fame Class for 2005 will be introduced by Corcoran, while Eric Anderson of the Ogden Newspapers will introduce the 16 members of the Ogden Ironmen Club.

Awards include the Chairman's Award, plus the 20K Run and Walk honors and presentations to the first West Virginia finisher and the first Wheeling finisher. The West Virginia and Wheeling awards are sponsored by Legg Mason Inc.