A half dozen or more men could contend for the marathon title at Sunday's Wellstone's Dallas White Rock Marathon.

But the women's elite field lacks depth.

"This year, we have more guys that can run fast than we've ever had," elite coordinator Larry Barthlow said.

Stephen Biwott, 31, among the favorites, has a 2-hour, 11-minute, 16-second best. Barthlow said Biwott has been in Kenya training.

Defending champion Moses Kororia set the course record, 2:12:04, last year. He looked like he would win the 2007 Los Angeles race with two miles to go. Then, his hamstring went out, and he hasn't raced well since.

Michael Misoi didn't run well here last year, but finished second, in 2:11:08, at the extremely hot, humid Mombasa (Kenya) Marathon in 2006.

Thomas Omwenga clocked a 2:10:44 at the JoongAng Marathon in Seoul, South Korea, in 2004.

Scott Robinson with AmeriKenyan Running Club has two athletes in the men's field: Matthew Koskei and David Ngetich. Ngetich, with a personal best of 2:09 in 1999, is poised to run well, Robinson said.

Barthlow said three women stand out: Emily Samoei of Kenya, and Russians Galina Aleksandrova and Firaya Sultanova.

Samoei has clocked a 1:12 half. Her marathon best is 2:28. She received her visa in the mail Tuesday, enabling her to come.

Aleksandrova placed fourth at the 2007 European Cross Country Championships. She's clocked a 1:11:22 half marathon.

Sultanova, has a marathon best 2:27:05. She placed third at the 2007 Houston and Austin marathons.

The women's half marathon field features defending champion Rose Koskei. Her stiffest competition likely will be Adriana Pritea, who led the Chicago Marathon late, but was overtaken at the finish.

Men's half marathon favorite, Fernando Cabada, ran a 2:12 debut marathon in 2006.

The men's and women's marathon winners will earn $10,000. One also will earn the Cooper Complete Race to Victory's $25,000 bonus. The women receive a calculated head start. Then, the men try to chase the women to create a competitive gender challenge race to the finish.

Half marathon course changes: Race director Marcus Grunewald changed the half course to try to minimize the disruption to marathoners when the groups merge.

Half marathoners will break off past the traditional split at Greenville Avenue near Mile 6. They will turn right on Matilda. Full marathoners will take a right on Ellsworth and head to the Lake.

The half will reunite on the Interstate 75 access road, a couple blocks south of Ross Avenue. It's a wider space than Swiss Avenue was, and it's deeper into the half marathon course, which should spread the runners out more, Grunewald said.

As a precaution, the half runners will be separated from the full marathoners by barricades to ensure that the slower half marathoners don't disrupt the marathoners.