The Dublin Marathon has gone through some exciting peaks and worrying troughs since its humble beginnings 19 years ago, reaching something of a crescendo in 1988 and falling into hard times earlier this decade. Today's race looks set to fall somewhere in between, with entries up on previous years and foreign interest set to add some flavour to the occasion.

Although the Dublin event never quite took off in the way of other big city marathons like London or New York, it has maintained attractions of its own, not least of all for the fundraising entrants that remain the heart and soul of the race. There are still enough people who choose to spend their Bank Holiday morning running 26 miles around the city streets to bring considerable benefit to charities around the world - and that, before prizemoney and sponsorship, is what has ensured the survival.

Still, when 98FM came on board last year and guaranteed support up until the year 2000, the organisers were at least able to develop some sort of long-term plan. A more appealing course was introduced and the principal aim of attracting more runners was undertaken. This year the entries stand around the 5,500 mark, almost double that of six years ago but a little over half the millennium target of 10,000.

The problem of bringing elite runners remains, with today's main attraction coming from our own debut-making Seamas Power and the Kenyan duo of Joshua Kipkemboi and John Mutai, who finished first and second last year. Both Kipkemboi and Mutai completed a spell of training in Kenya especially for the race, and should provide some similar excitement to last year when Mutai led for much of the way before Kipkemboi sneaked past for victory in 2 hours 15.56 minutes.

Power made his decision to move up to the marathon early in the summer after a less than fulfilling career on the track and cross-country. Despite being National Inter-Country Cross-Country champion for the past three years, the Limerick athlete never quite made his mark on the international scene, his most rewarding finish coming with a 13th place at the European Cross-Country two years ago. "I think that I've come to a crossroads in my career and needed this change of direction," says Power. "The marathon was always where I was going and although I've had a short enough period of training for this race, I'm hoping for a good start and then building on it over the next few years."

His coach Richie Clifford supported the decision, especially in light of the event in recent years. "If you look at who's winning marathons these days you see a much younger age group," he says. "Seamas is exceptionally talented over the longer distances and it is the logical progression really. At 27 he's coming close to his peak and in terms of the next Olympics and that the timing is about right. It's also important to set yourself new goals and I think this has definitely added a new commitment to his training."

Former National Cross-Country champion Teresa Duffy is also making her debut in the women's race and after an encouraging victory in the Waterside Half-Marathon recently in just over 76 minutes, should put up a strong challenge. Carol Galea of Malta is back hoping to repeat the victory she gained last year in 2:39.33 as well as 1994 third place finisher Trudi Thomson of Scotland. Swedish Marathon champion Annika Nyberger with a personal best of 2:41.49 will also be seeking the elite £5,000 prizemoney.

For the majority of runners, however, the goal is clearly to finish, especially when charity money is at stake. There are two major groups travelling from America - Joints in Motion, raising funds for arthritis research, and the Team in Training group of the Leukemia Society of America - bringing close to 2,000 runners between them from across the United States.

"Almost half the entrants are from overseas runners and that has a huge economic benefit on the city," says race director Jim Aughney. "Our impact study showed that these will bring something around £5 million to the city over the course of the weekend. We had promotions at the Paris and London Marathons and they went a long way in attracting the foreign entries and we hope to build on this in future years."

"It is especially encouraging to welcome these two main charity groups from America. The chance to combine the race with the Irish hospitality has always been one of the great attractions of the Dublin Marathon."

The organisers are also experimenting with the introduction of pacemakers for this year's race, helping runners of all levels to reach their projected finish targets. "One of the main worries for anybody running a marathon is getting the pace right," says Aughney. "We have lined up experienced runners to finish in two and a half, three, and four hours which will assist those hoping to reach their predicted time."

The course remains the same as last year, starting at 9.30 on O'Connell Street and heading southside around UCD, back into the centre by Stephen's Green and out by the Phoenix Park towards the finish line, again on O'Connell Street.