Ethiopians among favorites in Houston

HOUSTON (AP) - Ethiopia's Demessew Tsega wants to break his countryman's record Sunday in the Houston Marathon. And beat it by a wide margin.

The 23-year-old Tsega is among the favorites for the 40th edition of the city marathon. Ethiopia's Bekana Daba won the 2011 version in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 4 seconds, a record by 33 seconds, and Tsega wants to beat Daba's mark by a minute or more.

"With the help of God,'' Tsega said through a translator, "I want to make it (the margin) much bigger than that.''

About 24,000 runners are scheduled to start the full and half marathons Sunday. About 7,400 men and 5,600 women are entered in the full marathon.

The marathon and half-marathon follow Saturday's U.S. Olympic marathon trials. Meb Keflezighi won the men's trial and Shalane Flanagan took the women's race.

Tsega was keeping an eye on that race, too, even though those runners made three circuits on an 8-mile loop. The runners on Sunday were following a one-way route through the west side of the city.

Keflezighi won Saturday's race in 2:09.08 - 6x seconds off Ryan Hall's trials record from 2008. Hall also qualified for the U.S. team Saturday and set the marathon record for an American in Boston last year, finishing fourth in 2:04.58.

The 23-year-old Tsega is hoping to get to London himself, so Hall's mark is also on his mind heading into Sunday's race.

"My goal is to get the best time,'' he said. "A 2:05 might not be good (enough). I want to make the best time as possible.''

Fellow Ethiopian Feyisa Lelisa has another of Hall's records in his crosshairs. The 29-year-old Hall won the 2007 U.S. Half-Marathon in Houston in 59:43, the first American to cover the distance in under an hour. That mark still stands, and no one has finished in under 1:01 in Houston since then.

Lelisa will work with countryman Tilahun Regassa on Sunday to chase Hall's record.

"With him, I hope that we get much done,'' Lelisa said through a translator.

Australian Benita Willis, Ethiopian Alemitu Abera and Russian Margarita Plaksina are among the contenders in the women's marathon.

The 32-year-old Willis, who lives in Boulder, Colo., is trying to make her fourth Olympics. She ran the 10,000 meters in Athens and the marathon in Beijing. She set her personal best in Chicago in 2006 (2:22.36), which would eclipse the Houston record set by Ethiopia's Teyba Erkesso (2:23.53) in 2010.

Willis is only targeting 2:32 - the qualifying time necessary to make her Olympic team.

"I definitely feel like I'm approaching that kind of shape,'' she said. "The main aim on Sunday is to qualify, to get back on our team and then prepare for London.''

Boston Marathon winner Carolina Kilel, from Kenya, headlines the field for the women's half-marathon. The 30-year-old Kilel finished fourth in the 2009 half-marathon world championship, and set a personal best in the full distance in Boston last year (2:22.36).

The runners ran in light rain last year, but clear skies were forecast for Sunday.

The marathon is sponsored by Chevron, and the half-marathon is sponsored by Aramco.