Defending Champions Return for 21st Los Angeles Marathon

Stakes are raised to $100,000 for the Banco Popular Challenge winner

LOS ANGELES - (February 23, 2006) - After a thrilling men vs. women battle to the finish in 2005, defending champions Mark Saina from Kenya and Lyubov Denisova from Russia are returning for the 2006 City of Los Angeles Marathon presented by Honda. The Sunday, March 19 event will once again include the newly-named Banco Popular Challenge, in which the professional women will be given a head start over the professional men with $100,000 awarded to the first athlete to cross the finish line.

As proof of the excitement that the Banco Popular Challenge creates, last year, Saina passed Denisova in the 26th mile after the elite women were awarded a 15 minute and 50 second head start. He won his first major marathon in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 35 seconds, a $110,000 cash prize ($75,000 for winning "The Challenge," $25,000 for winning the men's division, and a $10,000 time bonus) plus a Honda Accord EX-V6. Denisova handily won the women's title with a course record of 2:26:11. She took home a $35,000 cash prize and a Honda Accord EX-V6.

For 2006, the stakes have been raised, as Banco Popular has signed on as the title sponsor for the Challenge. The Banco Popular Challenge is an unprecedented male-vs-female race in which the women are given a 'head-start' based on statistics compiled from recent performances by the competing professional runners. The first person to cross the finish line receives a $100,000 Banco Popular Challenge bonus and a $35,000 cash prize for being first in his or her division, making it the largest guaranteed first place payout in the United States. The Banco Popular Challenge adds an element of excitement and drama for athletes, spectators and television viewers as the elite men and women battle to be the first to cross the finish line.

source Running USA