For the fifth straight year the number of participants in the events for The Ogden Newspapers 20K Classic Run and Walk showed an increase, according to race director Howard V. Corcoran of Wheeling.

‘‘We had just over 1,300 entrants in 2005 and the total for this year exceeded 1,400, including The Ogden Mile, Tiny Tot Trot and Ogden Fun Run which were held Friday night,’‘ Corcoran said.

In the 20K run, a total of 605 entrants finished the event, which was won on the male side by Kenya native Isaac Arusei with a time of 1:03:21. Lyubov Denisova, a native of Russia who now runs out of New York, took ninth place overall and won the women’s Open championship with a clocking of 1:12:52.

The 2006 20K Walk had 195 finishers led across the line by record-setting male champion Matt Boyles of Xenia, Ohio (1:39:39) and female titlist Susan Randall of Beavercreek, Ohio (2:02:22).

Overall, there were 810 runners and walkers for the 20K, while the 5K Run had 184 participants, with an additional 123 in the 5K walk.

Those totals elevated the number of runners and walkers over the 1,000 plateau at 1,117. Add in another 47 who competed in the Ogden Mile and an estimated 190 in the Ogden Tiny Tot Trot, and Ogden Fun Run, the overall number of participants easily exceeded 1,400 for the May 26-27 weekend.

‘‘The race committee is very pleased with those numbers and also when we saw that we had over 200 women walkers in the two events,’’ Corcoran continued.

‘‘Among the men walkers were two ‘world-class’ participants — Matt Boyles won the 20K walk and Jim Robinson, from Huntington, who was second. Both were very pleased with our event and have promised to return next year along with encouraging several other highly ranked walkers.’’

Among the reasons cited for helping boost the numbers was the sponsor’s decision to restore the Masters (40-49) and Grand Masters (50-over) male and female divisions to the prize list.

For those concerned about the future of the race which observed its 30th anniversary last month, don’t be.

‘‘The 20K Classic is here to stay,’’ promised Corcoran, who stressed that all of the major sponsors were solid in their support of the race.

‘‘We could never get the race off the ground each year without our major sponsors. And I would have to say the same thing about our race committees and the hundreds of volunteers who give so much of their time to assure that we have a quality race.’’

Along with The Ogden Newspapers, which just concluded their sixth year as the race sponsor, other major sponsors receiving the heartfelt thanks of the race director were The City of Wheeling, Ohio County Commission, Mason Rehab, Wheeling Island RaceTrack & Gaming Center and United Bank.

Corcoran also hinted that another event could be added to the weekend package sometime in the near future. ‘‘It may not happen next year, but the race committee is looking at including a 10K race to the schedule,’‘ Corcoran said.

Many of the major races across the country have renewed interest and boosted the number of participants in their events by adding races over several distances.

The Ogden 20K Classic has attracted additional interest over the years because of The Ogden Ironmen Club and the establishment of a Hall of Fame three years ago.

Over the first 29 years of the Wheeling distance test, a total of 16 runners started and finished each of the 20K Runs. Fifteen of them were able to reach the coveted ‘‘30’’ plateau in 2006.

Unfortunately, Wheeling native Frank Monteleone, now a Massillon resident, was unable to compete this time due to a back injury. It was a shame Frank couldn’t make it to the starting line in May. He has been an excellent ambassador for the race since the very first run in 1977.

As for the other Ironmen, most of the ones we talked to at the finish line and the post-race banquet talked enthusiastically about returning next year to try and continue this amazing streak.

A decision to honor the past participants and contributors with the creation of the Ogden 20K Classic Hall of Fame has proven very successful, according to Corcoran.

From this writer’s standpoint, I was thrilled and particularly humbled to have been included in this year’s class. Also, the honor to have served as the starter for both the 20K Run and 20K Walk was especially flattering.

I thank the race committee for both opportunities although I’m sure there were many other more deserving participants than yours truly.

It was also exciting to congratulate fellow Hall of Fame inductees Bill Bryson, S. Mark Courtney, Don Gayda, Steve Dawson, Dianna Vargo, Tim Cogan, Grant Marks, Ron Calissie and Bill Bryson. Congratulations, gentlemen and lady.

Speaking of Courtney, he has been more than a successful competitor in the Ogden Classic. He also was honored for his efforts as the race timer for 15-plus years.

Courtney, owner of The Runner’s High Timing Services, introduced ChampionshipChip timing to the Ogden 20K. Each runner and walker has a chip attached to his or her running shoe which records the respective time during the race.

‘‘This form of timing gets better each year,’’ Corcoran said. ‘‘You wonder how we ever got by without it.’’

Assisting in this process were members of the Wheeling Park High School track team stationed at the finish line as they handled the job of collecting the chips of each participant as they finished the race or walk.

For the past two years, the 20K Classic has been held over a different course — eliminating most of National Road and both Chicken Neck Hill and Wheeling Hill from the layout — due to construction along National Road and mud slides on Wheeling Hill.

While many have been asking when the race would return to its usual course, the answer isn’t that simple.

‘‘The committee’s next obstacle will be the closing of the tunnels, one side at a time over the next two years. What this will do to the course won’t be known until December,’’ Corcoran said.

East-bound and west-bound traffic will have to be re-routed along National Road — including Wheeling Hill — for people traveling into the city.

‘‘Right now all we can do is wait and see. We will make every effort to get back on the old course as soon as possible,’’ Howard added.

One of the drawbacks of the new course was that spectators were unable to line up along National Road to cheer on the participants. But this problem did not escape the race committee’s planning for this year’s event.

They came up with ways to offer entertainment for spectators at other sites. Two bands from the middle schools in Ohio County eagerly accepted opportunities to perform. Also happy to be a part of the festivities were a trio of local DJ’s.

‘‘They did a great job for us,’’ Corcoran said. ‘‘The runners and walkers also enjoyed listening to the music. Our race fans also had a blast. We received a letter from the Bethlehem Mayor complimenting the entertainment provided by Jerry Schultze, who was stationed at the top of 29th Street Hill.

‘‘We hope to add even more entertainment next year.’’

The Memorial Day weekend also turned out to be another destination weekend for visitors to Wheeling. Runners and walkers from 20 different states and four countries — Kenya, Russia, Morocco and Canada — were among the participants.

Corcoran believes the race web site helped out again.

‘‘Jessica Ischy, our webmaster from the Ogden Newspapers, has done a wonderful job of taking our website to new heights,’’ he said.

Currently, there are many outstanding pictures and news articles on the web site (ogden20k.com) from race weekend to be enjoyed by those who check out the site on line.

Also praised was the coverage of the media, especially the news and sports staffs of The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register.

‘‘Don Clegg, the executive sports editor of the Wheeling papers sports staff, wrote many special interest articles that can be found on the web site,’’ said Corcoran, ‘‘and the other newspaper photographers and writers also did a terrific job covering the race.’’

After 29 years of being part of the media coverage team for the Ogden 20K Classic, this was the first chance for yours truly to be able to sit back and enjoy the proceedings.

I would like to ditto Howard’s comments about the efforts of the newspaper men and women. The sports guys did a great job as they always do when asked to cover any sports event in our area.

Nick Bedway is the retired former executive sports editor of The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register.