[14] Bmw Of Dallas | [+] MANTIS TILLER

Sunday's BMW Dallas Marathon elite fields primarily are composed of local runners who will be trying to capture their hometown marathon title.

"It's awesome the way the Dallas Marathon is growing without prize money and without bringing in [international pros]," said Luke Scribner, 23, of Melissa, who hopes to hang with the men's marathon leaders. "If you're from the Dallas area, and you train at White Rock Lake all the time, this is your hometown marathon."

Keith Pierce, the defending men's champion, is the favorite. He finished last year in 2 hours, 29 minutes, 27 seconds. He's previously won consecutive marathons, three times at the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon (2007-09) and twice at the Austin Marathon (2010-11).

"To win again would be an awesome thing," said Pierce, the head cross country and track coach at McKinney Boyd. "For me, I'm 37. To be able to go out and still be competitive is always the goal for me."

Pierce will be racing his fifth Dallas marathon. If he can hold off his challengers, he would join an exclusive list of repeat champions including former Olympic marathoner Kyle Heffner (1979, 1983), Terry Ziegler (1974-75), John Lodwick (1977, 1982), Ed Swiatocha (1985-86), Andres Espinosa (1988-1989), Victor De Jesus Diaz (1993, 1995) and, most recently, Joel Ibarra (2000-01).

His stiffest competition is expected to be from Carrollton's Brent Woodle, 32; Austin's Adam Waldum, 24 and Scribner. The remaining men's marathon elites are shooting for finish times between 2:35 and 2:55.

"Having four people that can go out and put pressure on everyone else is awesome," Scribner said.

In addition to their time goals, the men's elite runners also will be trying to chase down the women. Organizers staggered the race starts so that the women's half and full winners start at 7:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m., and should finish at approximately 9:05 and 10:30, respectively. Those are the approximate times the men's half and full marathoners should finish.

The women will collectively be trying to hold off the men. In addition, a 13-girl high school relay team will start with the women's marathoners and a 13-boy high school relay will start with the men's marathoners. Each high school relay participant will cover two miles. The high schoolers will try to combine to finish before the individual marathon leaders.

"With the staggered starts, we might have a very competitive finish," said BMW Dallas Marathon president Paul Lambert. "Our goal is to have a competitive race that will be fun to watch and good for the spectators."

Four women are looking to run sub three-hour times. They are Chandler Self, a New York physician; Ironman triathlete/triathlon coach Chelsea Tiner, 30, of Dallas; former SMU runner Caitlin Keen, 25, of Fort Worth; and Magaly Soto, 41, of Arlington. Self and Tiner are Rockwall natives.

Self, a former Texas A&M runner, clocker her personal-best 2:52:56 in Chicago in October. Dallas will be her eighth marathon. She ran her first here in 2009.

Keen placed third in at the BMW Dallas Marathon half last year in 1:20:17. Her ultimate goal is to achieve the Olympic Trials B standard of 2:45. This will be her marathon debut.

Tiner, a four-time Ironman World Championship finisher, has focused her fall training on becoming stronger runner. Soto placed second overall at last year's Dallas marathon in 3:08:25.

Colby Mehmen, 23, of Melissa is the defending men's half marathon champion. He won last year in 1:05:15. He's trying to run a 1:04:00, to earn the U.S. Olympic Marathon B Standard. Race organizers anticipate the other 10 elite runners will help push the pace.

Brooke Slayman of Fort Worth placed second in the half last year in 1:19:32. She's one of 17 elite women in the half.

"This could very well be our strongest local field in over a decade," said BMW Dallas Marathon executive director Marcus Grunewald."

For more running news, check out Media Dallas Marathon

What: 47th BMW Dallas Marathon, Half Marathon and SMU Cox School of Business Corporate and 5-person relays, Coors Light 5K and 10K and Oncor Mayor's Race.

When: 10K 8 a.m. Saturday, 5K 8:20 a.m. Saturday, Oncor Mayor's Race 11 a.m. Saturday, Elite Women Marathon 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Elite Women's Half Marathon 7:45 a.m. Sunday, Elite Men's Marathon and Half Marathon 8 a.m. Corrals begin at 8:10 a.m. Sunday.

Where: All races (except the Oncor Mayor's Race) begin at Dallas City Hall Plaza, Young and Akard streets, downtown Dallas. Oncor Mayor's Race begins at Reunion Park, 300 Reunion Blvd., Dallas.

Who: About 5,000 runners for Saturday's 5K/10K, 10,000 for the Mayor's Race and 18,000 for Sunday's marathon, half marathon and relay runners)

TV: Ch. 8, 8-11 a.m. The race will be streamed live at Media Media Temperatures in the upper 30s for Saturday's Coors Light 5K/10K, rising into the upper 40s for the start of the Oncor Mayor's race. For Sunday's races, temperatures will hover in the upper 30s as runners take off. Temperatures will rise into the mid 40s when the faster half marathoners are finishing. Temperatures might hit 60 by the four-hour mark but will peak out in the mid-60 when the courses close.