LOS ANGELES (AP) American Ryan Hall isn't thinking about winning the race within the race when he competes in the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday.
He believes he can win the whole thing.
Hall, who set the American record of 2 hours, 4 minutes, 58 seconds in the 2011 Boston Marathon, doesn't see why he can't be the first American to win the L.A. Marathon since 1991.
''I've never seen myself as different,'' he said. ''In high school, I was racing against Bernard Lagat in the 1,500 (meters). I'm not interested in winning a race within a race. I've got a lot of respect for the other guys, but I can run with them.''
This marathon includes a race within a race because it's doubling as USA Track and Field's national championship.
The field includes 74 elite American runners, many of whom are entered because the ''Stadium to the Sea'' course will host the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials in February, and any American who finishes in at least 2:18 will qualify.
The weather forecast calls for temperatures in the 80s, making this potentially the hottest LA Marathon. As a result, race officials have moved the starting time 30 minutes earlier, to 6:55 a.m. PDT.
