About to experience their largest turnout of participants ever, the 2009 Stockholm Marathon race runs on Saturday, May 29th. With a unique marathon event, and quite a few top contenders entered in the race, the Stockholm Marathon will be one to watch. It is part of a marathon series that's been broadcasted live over the Internet, with streaming marathon footage delivered by universalsports.com.

(photo: Runner Competing in 2008 Stockholm Marathon - credit: Visserligen)

While the race doesn't necessarily attract the fastest of the world's distance runners, the Stockholm Marathon has captured international attention for other reasons. The race is unique in that it begins at two o'clock in the afternoon, versus an early morning start typical of most marathons. The event attracts a large group of runners from Finland, as well as locals from Sweden.

The course is visually appealing, with a start near the Stockholm Olympic Stadium, which was the site of the 1912 Olympic Summer Games. Those that are not in Sweden to experience the event live, can catch an Internet marathon broadcast, made available by universalsports.com (UniversalSports.com/Marathon).

Among elites in the field for the 2009 Stockholm Marathon, are 26-year-old Paul Kipkemei Kogo of Kenya (with a personal best time of 2:10:39), 31-year-old Willy Korir of Kenya (Personal best: 2:13:19), 35-year-old Philip Bandawe of Zimbabwe (Personal best: 2:15:51 at Stockholm Marathon 2005), 30-year-old Bernard Mutai of Kenya (Personal best: 2:15:57), and 35-year-old Said Regragui of Sweden (with a personal best time of 2:14:52).

There are several top female competitors in the field as well. Top female elites for the 2009 Stockholm Marathon include runners such as 28-year-old Isabellah Andersson of Sweden (personal best time of 2:34:14). Andersson is Kenyan by birth and married to her coach. There is also 38-year-old Claudia Dreher of Germany, with a personal best time of 2:27:55 (recorded in 1999). Another local elite contender is 35-year-old Lena Gavelin of Sweden, who has a personal best of 2:30:39. 40-year-old Lillian Magnusson, also of Sweden, recorded a personal best of 2:37:47 at the 2007 Berlin Marathon. From Russia comes 36-year-old Lidiya Vasilevskaya, with a personal best time of 2:29:24, recorded in 2002.

In our other Planet Chiropractic Marathon guides, we have frequently mentioned checking photo sharing sites such as Flickr for race images posted. Use this search query to view plenty of images from previous Stockholm marathons: Stockholm Marathon and Stockholm Marathon 2009 to view the most recent photos posted.

Using twitter, people can follow the Stockholm Marathon by simply performing a search query for Stockholm+Marathon. Elite long-distance runner Josh Cox of Mammoth Lakes California, will announce the Stockholm Marathon live from NBC Universal Studios in Los Angeles, before heading to San Diego for the 2009 San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon.

Speaking of San Diego, runners Josh Cox and Ryan Hall (third-place finisher in the 2009 Boston Marathon) will be in San Diego on Sunday to rabbit another runner, Tom Bedford, in hopes of helping him meet a challenge of running a marathon under two hours and 25 minutes. The challenge comes with an opportunity to raise funds for the Entoto Foundation, which is dedicated to helping Ethiopians gain access to medical care not currently available to them.