You’ve got the defending champions in both open divisions.
Add to that six of the top men, including the top three finishers, and five of the top women in the July 4 Atlanta Peachtree Road Race.
Throw in a former four-time winner and Olympic silver medalist who is one of the top racers of all time, plus one of the few runners who has won the Boston and New York City marathons in the same year, and then add the world record holder at 15-kilometers.
That makes for a strong field in the 31st annual Utica Boilermaker Road Race, which kicks off at 8 a.m. Sunday when more than 11,000 will toe the line near the foot of Culver Avenue.
“I think it is a really strong field,” said Phil Stewart, the race’s finish-line announcer.
Defending men’s open champion Nicholas Kamakya of Kenya is back, when he covered the 15 kilometers in 43:51. So is women’s open champion Lidia Simon, an Olympic silver medalist in the marathon, and Firaya Sultanova, who has won the women’s masters race the last two years.
Ethiopia’s Terefe Maregu, the Peachtree winner, is in the field, along with Peter Kamais, second, and Daniel Kipkoech, third. Maina Mucheru, Macdonard Ondara, and Robert Letting, who were sixth, seventh and ninth in Atlanta, also are entered.
“The addition of Peter Kamais (second to Kamakya at the 2007 Boilermaker and a late entry this year) makes it more competitive,” said Dick Mattia, the Boilermaker’s coordinator of elite runners.
The men’s field also includes Rodgers Rop, the 2002 Boston and New York City champion, and Felix Limo, the former London and Chicago Marathon champion who set the 15K road race record of 41:28.8 in 2001.
“Limo might not be at the level he was when he set the record, but I understand he is in pretty good shape,” Mattia said.
Americans on the field include Zoila Gomez, sixth last year, and Melissa White, 10th. Nate Jenkins was 13th last year in 46:22.
The top three American runners receive $1,000, $500 and $300, respectively, if they finish in the top 20. The Boilermaker pays $6,000 to each of the open winners, down to $500 for 10th place, with a $1,000 bonus for a record. The masters winners earn $1,500, $1,000 and $500.
The most decorated runner in the field is Catherine Ndereba. She has won the race four times, last in 2001, when she set a course record of 48:06. She has not been back since.
