DEDHAM - Runners from around the world will be in town next month to run the 20th annual James Joyce Ramble, a qualifying event for world championship events including the Olympics.

But for race director Martin Hanley, the Ramble is about much more than the athletic event.

"We present it as a world-class competitive event but I don't find that interesting enough to hold my attention," Hanley said. "It has to mean more than that."

Enter the race's mission to foster human rights and celebrate literacy. The Ramble, a 10K road race for beginning and advanced runners, is punctuated by actors reading passages from works by James Joyce, an Irish literary icon. Participants are asked to sign a petition for the release of a political prisoner and may compete in a literary quiz after they run.

"We try to make the event resonate with people on many different levels. We merge culture, arts, charity and social justice," Hanley said. The race may be the only such event with a human rights mission, organizers said.

"We look for things that we can do that nobody else has thought of. In my own way, I'm getting people to think about these things," Hanley said.

Each year, organizers petition for the release of one person or group of people imprisoned. Mostly student volunteers ask runners and spectators to sign a petition drafted with the help of Amnesty International, a group working for human rights worldwide.

Last year, the race honored slain Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl.

This year, race participants will learn about a group of businessmen in the Maldives who have been jailed for publishing an Internet newspaper

"We try to choose a case that is tailored around the mission of the race - writing or literacy. We find people who are unjustly punished for what or how they have written or expressed themselves," said Ed Morneau, a Dedham High teacher who heads up the Ramble's human right's element.

The collected signatures do make a difference, he said.

"Call it coincidence or serendipity, but it's always astounded me that whoever we sponsor, within the next year or so, some action is taken on their case," Morneau said. Previously, the group focused its attention on Chinese democracy activist Xu Wenli.

In addition to the petition, the race committee sponsors a scholarship given to a high school student who is not only an athlete and a writer, but who has also "been instrumental in fostering and advancing an appreciation of diversity, practicing tolerance and advocating human rights and free expression in the school and community."

This year, applicants must answer the essay question, "How has America's 'war on terrorism' changed the way you practice your own tolerance of people who oppose ideas about how this 'war' may be conducted?"

The winner will receive $1,000 and be invited to read their essay at the race. The scholarship application deadline is April 1.

Morneau said runners and spectators are genuinely interested in human rights. "These are ordinary Americans who have concerns about an extraordinary situation," he said.

There is no human rights organization in Dedham, including at the high school, where Amnesty International chapters are usually based. Morneau said the Ramble is the only annual human rights event in town, but the pairing fits.

"It does strike a chord with most of our runners, who are pretty educated, well-read people," he said.

"We're kind of an orphan event that way, because we're not sponsored by a big company. In fact, most of the sponsors are local small businesses," he said.

The race, which usually draws 3,000 runners, 500 walkers and lots of media coverage, is a bare-bones operation, Hanley said. "We pay for an office year-round but most of the work is volunteer," he said. "We do just fine."

The 20th annual James Joyce Ramble will be run April 27, at 11 a.m. For more information visit www.ramble.org

Reporter Sarah MacDonald can be reached at 781-433-8338 or at sarah.macdonald@cnc.com.