Race Facts

* Start: 8:45 a.m. on Grand Avenue near Second Street. Wheelchair race starts at 8:20.

* The runners: An estimated 23,000 will start the race, including about 40 elite male and female competitors.

* The rollers: Saul Mendoza of Wimberly, Texas, is going for his sixth consecutive victory in the men’s wheelchair division. Ariadne Hernandez of Mexico is favored to win her second consecutive women’s title.

* The finish: On Hope Street, north of Olympic Boulevard. The winner of the men’s race will cross the finish line about 10:55 a.m., with the first woman expected to finish 20-25 minutes later. Runners averaging 10 minutes per mile will finish about 1:10 p.m. Anyone averaging more than 12:30 per mile will have to run on the sidewalks and obey regular traffic laws because streets will be reopened.

* The view: Spectators can watch the race from the sidewalk nearly anywhere along the course.

* The tube: 8:30-11:30 a.m., Channel 9.

* The favorites: Defending champion Stephen Ndungu and 2000 winner Benson Mbithi are expected to be among the leaders in the men’s race, which includes fellow Kenyan Ronald Mogaka. Lucia Subano of Kenya, Aurica Buia of Romania and Lyubov Denisova of Russia are leading entries in the women’s race.

* The longshots: Sylmar native Peter De La Cerda, who finished a surprising second in the 2000 U.S. Olympic marathon trials, will try to become the first American to finish among the top five in the men’s race since 1995. Luminita Talpos of Romania, ninth in the 1999 world half-marathon championships, will make her marathon debut.

* The spoils: The first-place finishers in the men’s and women’s division will receive $25,000 and a 2002 Honda Accord V-6 valued at $25,300.TR

* Last year: Ndungu took the lead after 18 miles and clocked 2 hours 13 minutes 13 seconds to win the men’s race by two minutes. Elana Paramonova of Russia won the women’s race in 2:36:58 after passing Nuta Olaru of Romania with 11/2 miles left.

* History lesson: Paul Pilkington and Olga Appell are the last Americans to win the men’s and women’s titles with their victories in 1994. Pilkington was the designated pacesetter that year, but decided to finish the race when he had a two-minute lead on the rest of the field with 10 miles left. His 2:12:13 clocking gave him a 39-second margin of victory over Luca Barzaghi of Italy. Appell won the women’s race in a career-best 2:28:12 nine days after becoming a U.S. citizen.

Fast facts: Simon Bor of Kenya averaged 4:56 per mile when he set a course record of 2:09:25 in the 1999 marathon. Madina Biktagirova of the Commonwealth of Independent States averaged 5:35 when she set the women’s course record of 2:26:23 in 1992.

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John Ortega