USA Track & Field’s New England membership selected the Dedham road race as championship host Monday at Brandeis University. The 19th annual James Joyce Ramble is scheduled for April 28, 2002.

“We welcome the opportunity to return to Dedham for the James Joyce Ramble in 2002,” said Steve Vaitones, USATF-NE’s managing director.

“It's a unique event on a fast course, which provides a lot of runners with a chance for personal best times,” Vaitones said. “Last year's move of the start and finish to the Endicott Estate provided an excellent setting for the pre- and post-race festivities.”

Although the race attracts thousands of runners each year, the championship designation ensures that some of most talented athletes in the region will be at the start line on East Street, race director Martin Hanley said.

“All of the running organizations in New England will be circling the Ramble date on their club calendars and designing their athlete-training schedules with the race in mind,” Hanley said.

Board of Selectman Chairman Tom Polito said the Ramble’s status as a championship event is great for Dedham.

“We’re proud that the town of Dedham is, once again, the host of this important championship,” Polito said. “We’re sure that the thousands of runners and spectators will enjoy both the race and the hospitality the Endicott Estate and the town of Dedham has to offer.”

Polito added that the cooperation of the Police Department and other town departments “makes an successful event like the James Joyce Ramble possible.”

The event, which has been featured on ESPN, National Public Radio and Sports Illustrated, attracted more than 4,000 people last year. The event also includes a 3.5-mile Fitness Walk and children’s race. The April 2002 race will have special New England championship prize money in addition to the overall winner’s purse.

Hanley said he and other race organizers will stop at nothing to maintain and enhance the Ramble’s reputation as a “world-class event.” This year, Hanley said, that means adopting an emerging technology.

“Everyone will be given a chip to wear on their legs. Places and times will be recorded electronically,” he said, adding that the new technology will make the race more efficient by eliminating the work about 10 people, who in the past have been needed to record the results manually.

Use of the new timing method necessitated the purchase of expensive equipment, but Hanley said not getting wired into the same technology now used by the Falmouth Road Race and other premier races simply wasn’t an option.

“We have to keep raising the bar,” he said. The Ramble has contributed over a quarter of a million dollars for basic cancer research at the Dana-Farber Institute since 1984.

Dedham reporter Peter Hartzel can be reached at 781-433-8368 or phartzel@cnc.com