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CHARLEVOIX - Fifteen men and four women have been accepted to compete for $4,000 in prize money at the inaugural Ryan Shay Mile to be held as part of Charlevoix's Venetian Festival on Saturday, July 26.

Entry applications were due by June 30, but race organizer Matt Peterson said he will accept late applications for women in hopes of filling out the field.

The race was created this year in honor of local runner Ryan Shay, who collapsed and died in the Olympic Trials Marathon in New York on November 3, 2007 at the age of 28.

Shay was a resident of East Jordan and a 1997 graduate of Central Lake High School, where he won 11 state championships in cross country and track for the Trojans.

Shay was a nine-time All-American at Notre Dame, where he won the 10,000 meter NCAA outdoor track national championship in 2001.

As a professional, Shay won five national championships in road running, including the 2003 USATF marathon championship.

Peterson, along with fellow organizers Tim Bergmann and Charlevoix athletic director Doug Drenth, wanted to add something "significant" to this year's race lineup at the Venetian Festival, according to Peterson.

Bergmann's business, Bergmann Marine, is sponsoring the event and providing the prize money.

"We called Joe and Sue (Shay, Ryan's parents), and they were very accepting," Peterson said. "We're hoping to make it a special event to honor a special person."

Peterson is a teacher at East Jordan Middle School and served as East Jordan's varsity cross country coach from 1992 to 2006. It was in that role that he got to watch Ryan run and also meet Joe Shay, who is the varsity cross country coach at Central Lake.

Joe and Sue Shay will be the official starters of the Ryan Shay Mile.

"The Shays were gracious enough to let us do this," Peterson said. "This wouldn't be nearly the event if Joe and Sue weren't a part of it to make it special. It's an honor that they're letting us do this."

The race has attracted some of the best running talent in the Midwest as several of the runners have competed in the Olympic Trials.

The first place finisher of each race will win $1,000. Second place gets $500, and third place gets $250. The leader at the halfway point gets $250, meaning that the winner could potentially earn $1,250.

That $250 halfway-point prize also adds incentive for runners to get out to a fast start, which should delight fans.

Fast finishing times shouldn't be a problem considering that the course is flat, straight, and finishes on a quarter-mile downhill.

"I fully expect a guy is going to break four minutes," Peterson said. "It's going to look like they're sprinting down Main St."

The starting line is at the corner of M-66 and US-31. The finish line is one mile north under the stoplight.

The race will begin at 10:30 a.m. - right before the start of the parade - and Peterson expects thousands of spectators to be lining the route.

Ê "Even if you're not a fan of running, I think people will be amazed at how fast these men and women run," Peterson said.