Courtesy: event press release

With more than $118,000 in prize money up for grabs, Sunday's HP Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon are attracting deep and talented elite fields led by Olympians and top Americans.

Some 16,000 runners are expected to compete in three HP Houston Marathon weekend races, with the fastest competitors lining up in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, which also serves as the 2005 USA Men's Half Marathon Championship. Several top Americans are scheduled to participate, including 2004 Olympian Dan Browne.

At last year's Athens Olympics, Browne became the first U.S. runner since Frank Shorter in 1972 to compete in both the marathon and 10,000 meters in a single Games. The 1997 graduate of West Point took 65th in the marathon and 12th in the 10,000. Browne is no stranger to the Aramco Houston Half Marathon course, finishing second in 2004 in a brisk 1:03:09. Nick Rogers, Matt Lane, Justin Young, Teddy Mitchell, Peter Gilmore, Scott Strand and David Morris are expected to provide Browne with plenty of competition this year.

While they won't figure in the championship picture, first seed Julius Kibet, of Kenya, along with countrymen Sammy Nyamongo and Daniel Cheruiyot, and Canada's Calvin Staples all have a shot to lead their American rivals to the finish line.

The top contenders in the women's half marathon are defending champion Colleen De Reuck, of Colorado, Lyubov Denisova, of Russia, who finished third in the 2004 New York City Marathon, and Kenya's Emily Samoei. Canada's Nicole Stevenson, second in the HP Houston Marathon last year, makes a return trip to Houston, this time to run the half marathon.

Runners in the Aramco Houston Half Marathon are vying for $48,900 in prize money, including $17,500 for the men's championship.

Headliners in the HP Houston Marathon include returning champion Marek Jaroszewski of Poland. He will be challenged by three Ethiopians, including Tesfaya Eticha, the #2 seed, who won the 2003 Lusanne Marathon in 2:10:04 - the Houston Marathon's record time. Other contenders include Russian Olympic marathoner Dmitry Burmakin. The 24-year-old won Russia's marathon championships in 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 19 seconds in May and represented his country at the Athens Games.

Among the women in the marathon, Kelly Keane, of The Woodlands, Texas, is the first seed with a 2:36.26 marathon best from 2002. Tatiana Boirsova of Krygyzstan, Wioletta Kryza of Poland and Valentyna Poltavska of the Ukraine are expected to make it a tight race.

The marathon will have a prize purse of $69,500.

Both the HP Houston Marathon and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, along with the Houston Press 5K, take place Sunday in downtownHouston. All three races start and finish in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center. The two longer races start at 7 a.m., while the 5K begins at 7:20 a.m.

More information is available online at www.hphoustonmarathon.com or by calling 713- 957-3453.