During a January trip to Ethiopia, Clay Shaw noticed just how world-renowned the Under Armour Baltimore Marathon has become. A few locals sauntered through the running-rich streets of Addis Ababa in T-shirts emblazoned with the marathon's logo, while runners familiar with Shaw's work protracted his name to "Clay Shaw, Baltimore Marathon."

In his 10 years as the elite athlete coordinator for the event — basically, he ensures that top runners come here to compete — Shaw has fitted some of the best international runners with bibs in the Baltimore Marathon. And if Saturday's 10th annual event follows the recent thrend, there could be at least one record-breaking performance in both the men's and women's races.

"I think the Baltimore Marathon does it right," Shaw said. "It's a great race because you have a lot of components. The competition is good, and even the amateur runners that are out there are trying to better themselves, and better their times even if it's the only marathon they ever do in their life."

The marathon sold out all four of its races for a fourth consecutive year, and officials are expecting a record 22,281 runners representing 25 countries and all 50 states to compete in Maryland's crown jewel of running events.

"It's a staple in the community now," said Lee Corrigan, whose Corrigan Sports Enterprises has been operating the event since its inaugural year in 2001. "We've been growing really strong and steady, and we've tripled in size, basically in 10 years."

The 26.2-mile course will remain the same for a second consecutive year, taking a serpentine route through the city with the starting line posted at Russell and Camden Streets. Potential winners are not expected to break from the pack until mile 16 when runners begin treading a slight incline near Patterson Park, baiting each other with surges that will determine who will dash through the finish line at M&T Bank Stadium and into the record books.

Adding to the allure of the race is this year's purse of $140,000, which places Baltimore among the top 10 most lucrative marathons in the country. First place male and female finishers in the full marathon will be awarded $23,000, while up to $2,500 in bonus money could be disbursed for record-breaking achievements.

"When Under Armour came on board eight years ago they wanted to jack the purse up, and that obviously attracts some of the elite runners from around the world," Corrigan said.

There will be no shortage of competitors in Saturday's race, and among the favorites on the men's side are Kenyan runner Julius Keter and the 2009 defending champion, Alfonsi Yatich.

The 26-year-old Yatich swooped through the course last year in 2 hours, 14 minutes and 4 seconds for the victory, and used his $18,000 in prize money to purchase a farm in the Koibatek District of Kenya's Rift Valley Province.

Keter, 21, set the current Baltimore event record in 2008 after finishing in 2:11:56 seconds. The record also made him the youngest athlete in Kenya's history to break the 2-hour, 12-minute marathon mark when he won in Baltimore as a 19-year-old.

Keter is the grandson of Kenyan Olympic great Kipchoge Keino, who took home gold medals in both the 1968 and 1972 Summer Games. Keino now serves as the chairman of the Kenyan Olympic Committee. Keter's early feats have come as no surprise to those familiar with his pedigree.

"For any of the Kenyans or Ethiopians, their culture dictates that running is what they do," Shaw said. "They're built for running. [Keter has] famous runners in the bloodline. He's got pure, innate, natural ability."

John Crews, a 26-year-old Virginia native, has local ties and should run toward the front of the pack. A newcomer to full marathons, Crews won the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon and is a back-to-back champion of the KeyBank Vermont City Marathon, claiming his most recent victory in May.

Crews, though, is no stranger to the streets of Baltimore. While completing an internship at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Laurel during the summer of 2007, Crews lived in Federal Hill and routinely woke for a 5 a.m. run through the city. Crews would blitz through the morning darkness before watching the sunrise as he tracked along the Inner Harbor promenade.

He finished first in the 2009 CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Baltimore Half-Marathon, crossing the finish line in a brisk 1:7:24.

"This will definitely be the best competition I've seen, by far." said Crews, who is working on his doctorate in mechanical engineering at North Carolina State. "I can't think of many marathons in the U.S. that are more competitive than Baltimore, Boston, New York and Chicago. I'm expecting a pretty loaded field up front."

Iuliia Arkhipova will return to Baltimore after shattering the event's women's record while setting a new personal best when she finished in 2:32:9 last year. A distinguished international athlete, the 26-year-old Arkhipova represented Kyrgyzstan in the 2008 Summer Olympics before placing sixth in this year's Rock-N-Roll San Diego Marathon.

Other women's favorites include Olena Shurkhno, a 32-yar-old from Ukraine, who won the 2009 Rock-N-Roll Arizona marathon and the 2007 Country Music Marathon in Nashville, Tenn. Ethiopian runner Alemsehay Misganaw is also expected to have a strong showing in her first-ever marathon. Misganaw, 30, is an accomplished 10k runner who placed third in the 2010 Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon in Alexandria, Va.

"You never know in marathons," Shaw said. "They all have the capability. You never know when the athlete is going to put it together."

10th annual Under Armour Baltimore Marathon

When: Saturday, 8 a.m.

Starting line: Russell and Camden streets

Finish line: M&T Bank Stadium

Field: 5,000

Event record: 2:11:56 seconds set by Julius Keter (Kenya) in 2008

2009 winner: Alfonsi Yatich (Kenya) in 2:14:04

2009 women's winner: Iuliia Arkhipova (Kyrgyzstan) set a women's event record by finishing in 2:32:09.

Five men to watch:

Alfonsi Yatich (Kenya)

Julius Keter (Kenya)

Joseph Mutinda (Kenya)

John Crews (Raleigh, N.C.)

David Berdan (Owings Mills)

Five women to watch:

Iuliia Arkhipova (Kyrgyzstan)

Olena Shurkhno (Ukraine)

Lyubov Denisova (Russia)

Alemsehay Misganaw (Ethiopia)

Yolanda Fernandez (Colombia)

Half marathon

When: 9:45 a.m.

Starting line: Conway and Light Streets

Race limit: 10,000

Event record: 1:3:45 set by Valentine Orare in 2006.

2009 winner: John Crews in 1:07:24.

2009 women's winner: Kayoko Obata in 1:15:17.

Legg Mason Team Relay

Time: 8 a.m.

Starting line: Russell and Camden streets

Race limit: 950 teams

Event record: 2:19:24 set by Falls Road Running in 2006.

2009 winner: Howard County Striders in 2:26:02.

United Way 5K

Starting line: Paca and Pratt streets

Race limit: 8:30 a.m.

Event record: 13:47 set by Aurelio Handanga in 2001.

2009 winner: Bado Merdessa in 14:51.

2009 women's winner: Susan Hendrick in 17:57.