WHEELING — True race enthusiasts and diligent followers of the Ogden Newspapers 20K Classic Walk and Run need little help picking out Dave Fiorilli, Steve Harbursky, Pat Cronin, Bruce Kirby or any of the other 16 members of the race’s Ironmen Club.

These gentlemen have competed in all 30 previous runnings of the race and need little introduction.

Spotting one of these mainstays this year, during the 31st running of the race, won’t be a problem for even the most casual of fans, however.

Race Director R. “Scat” Scatterday, along with representatives from Wheeling Jesuit University, have come up with a plan to honor this prestigious group.

Besides covering the $25 cost for each Ironman’s entry fee, Wheeling Jesuit purchased race-day shirts for each member to wear, depicting the Ironmen Club on the front and the number 31 on the back. The shirts are a bold shade of red that should alert any fan along the race course when one of the Ironmen is about to pass by.

“The idea was actually presented to us by Brent Bush of Wheeling Jesuit,” Scatterday said. “They paid the entry fee and sponsored the shirts in order to honor and support these guys.

“It’s something we hope to continue each and every year to give these guys some public recognition.”

According to Scatterday, there are many runners — both male and female — who will be participating in their 28th, 29th and even 30th races this season. They may have missed a race or two since its inception for a variety of reasons, but for the most part they have stayed diligent in their love of competing in the annual, late-May event.

That in itself is commendable, but there is something more to be said about not missing a single race for 31 consecutive years.

“I wanted to get these guys some visibility because they aren’t just any average runners,” Scatterday said. “I would say that it’s an indication of the personal lifestyle each one of these guys has chosen for themselves that is not motivated out of gaining any kind of public fame.

“To them, it’s a private matter among friends, but they have set the standard for this race,” he added.

Only two members of the Ironmen, Ted Rouse and Mitch Lemasters, are under age 50.

The oldest member of the group, the Rev. Robert “Bob” Cole, now 72, is one of the most active of the bunch.

“I was talking to Bob last week and he said to me that he needed to get two races in before the Ogden race,” Scatterday recalled. “And I said to him, ‘Bob, you want to get two in before the race and it’s fewer than two weeks away?’

“There are few people that are that driven,” Scatterday said.

Only one member of the club — Fiorilli — has missed a race, but for an honorable, and excusable, reason. Fiorilli was called to active military duty to serve during Desert Storm with the U.S. Navy, but it was long ago agreed upon by the other club members that Fiorilli was not to be excluded from the group because of serving his country.

The group’s number dropped by one this year, as former Warwood resident Frank Monteleone apparently will not be participating. However, there is a new addition to the Ironmen Club, albeit with an honorary designation.

Hugh Stobbs, the Ogden Newspapers 20K Classic race director for the first 27 years of its running, was voted in as an honorary member of the Ironmen Club this past week at a club meeting at Greco’s.

A vote was cast, and all present voted in favor of bringing Stobbs into the club. Like his new comrades, Stobbs was presented with an Ironmen Club T-shirt for race day.

The club consists of Fiorilli, Habursky, Kirby, Cole, Lemasters, Rouse, Cronin, Joe Kubik, Tim Cogan, Grant Marks, Mitch Toto, Dr. John Holloway, Paul Exley, David Claypool, Larry Jones and now Stobbs.

Even though each runner is in great shape, it’s hard to tell how much longer it will be before time, injuries and unexpected circumstances take a toll on the club’s numbers.

But one thing is for certain — as long as their bodies are willing, you can count on each and every member of the Ironmen Club to be at the start line on race day, and they will be waiting at the finish until the last man has crossed.