There will be an international contest in the nation's capital this weekend to determine who are the best marathoners in the world.

The 34th annual National Capital Marathon is set to take place Sunday.

In Olympic years such as this one, the Ottawa marathon, which has grown enormously in reputation and importance since its inception in 1975, becomes even more exciting, as the top athletes come to get their Olympic standard.

Can the men's field this year break the fastest time ever run on Canadian soil, which was set last year in Toronto, at two hours nine minutes and 30 seconds?

Three contenders have run 2:09: Peter Bor and David Rutto of Kenya and Silvio Guerra of Ecuador. Bor has apparently indicated he's gunning for a time of 2:07, two minutes faster than his personal best. And of course, two-time winner and champion David Cheruiyot of Kenya is back to defend his title.

On the women's side, Canada's Lioudmila Kortchaguina, who is a three-time winner with a personal best of 2:29:42, is among the favourites, as is another Canadian, Nicole Stevenson, with a personal best of 2:32:56. Last year's second- and third-place finishers on the women's side, Kebebush Haile and Yeshi Esayias of Ethiopia, are back to contend again.

Perhaps the most interesting storyline to follow at this year's event is that of a group of athletes who will be participating on behalf of the Brooks Marathon Project. Four of the five Brooks runners competing in Ottawa will be making their marathon debut, although they are all runners with great potential and expectations.

Giving back

The group was brought together by Brooks Canada (of running shoes and sporting apparel fame). Most of the athletes live together in a house owned by Brooks in Toronto's High Park neighbourhood, and they are allowed to live more or less expense free, allowing them to dedicate themselves to training.

Brooks co-founder Mike Dyon, himself a former marathoner who competed in the 1982 Commonwealth Games, said the project was a way for him — along with brother Paul — to give back to the running community. Dyon teamed up with his former coach, Hugh Cameron, widely respected as the best marathon coach in the country, who agreed to take on the responsibility of training the athletes.

The results of that training are starting to show. Although the ultimate goal is to get the group ready for the 2012 Olympics, because training for a marathon takes about four years to really achieve the best results, already the Brooks Marathon Project has made a name for itself.

The husband and wife team of Andrew Smith and Tara Quinn-Smith won the, respectively, men's and women's Canadian Half-Marathon Championships last month in Montreal, earning berths in the World Half-Marathon Championships this October.

Although this Sunday's event will be her marathon debut, Quinn-Smith is already one of the favourites to contend in Ottawa. At an interview at the Brooks Marathon House earlier this week, Quinn-Smith made it clear she's aiming for the Canadian Olympic standard — the "A" standard is 2:29, and the "B" standard, or "rising star" as its known, is 2:31:00.

If she can qualify, she'll be the first Canadian to qualify for the Olympics since Bruce Deacon in Sydney in 2000.

Tough time standards

Many people chock that up to the very different, and difficult, Olympic standards that the Canadian Olympic Association has adopted, rather than using the international standard.

On the men's side, it's 2:12, but at the 2004 Athens Games, only four people ran faster than 2:12. The standard of the International Association of Athletics Federations, on the other hand, is 2:15. Even Canada's "B" standard is faster than that by a minute.

Lauren King, a Torontonian also affiliated with the Brooks Marathon Project, takes issue with the COA's much more rigorous standards.

"I think what Athletics Canada can do and the COA is to give us the chance to dream about the Olympics," she says. "And that's giving us the chance to go at the standards that the international federation has set."

There is a renewed sense of excitement among elite runners about the marathon event in Canada. There are whispers that perhaps the Brooks project could mean Canada might once again compete in the marathon in the Olympics.

If that's the case, it will be because of the financial backing of Brooks Canada and the dedication of these remarkable athletes, for whom overcoming the COA standard is simply one more obstacle on their way to becoming Olympic marathoners.