World-class marathoners Gezahegne Abera and Elfenesh Alemu will attend the 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon to lend their support and training advice to 100 athletes running as part of Team World Vision. The partnership between Gezahegne, Elfenesh and Team World Vision may be the first known example of professional marathoners attending the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon on behalf of a charity.

Gezahegne, who won the 2000 Olympic gold medal and 2000 World Championship for the marathon, and his wife, Elfenesh, who placed fourth in the 2004 Olympics, will be in Chicago from October 13 to October 23. The Olympic athletes will not run the marathon competitively, but will lend their training advice and support to Team World Vision athletes.

Together with 100 area runners, they will raise awareness - and $105,000 in funding - for a program that cares for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in Quacha Birra, Ethiopia. The community of 145,000 people is about 230 miles south of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, and has over 6,000 AIDS orphans. Ethiopia is the eleventh poorest country in the world. Both athletes see this as an opportunity to use their athletic ability to help their country.

Gezahegne is the only marathon runner to have won the World Championship and Olympic gold medal in the same year (2000). His wife, Elfenesh, won the 2003 Tokyo Marathon. Both regularly place in the most competitive marathons around the world.

Team World Vision is a program of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization that has made AIDS prevention, care and advocacy a top priority.

For more information, go to www.worldvision.org.