Stephen Ndungu

The rain stayed away Sunday. Instead, the wind showed up in its place and wreaked havoc with runners throughout the second half of the 16th Los Angeles Marathon. But by the time Stephen Ndungu outlasted a field of 21,072 and ran face first into the brutal headwind and tackled the rolling hills in Hollywood, the Kenyan already was beginning to open up an insurmountable lead.

Stephen Ndungu calls himself an "amateur" compared to the top distance runners in his native Kenya. But if the 35-year-old father of three wins the 18th Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, he will join a select club. A victory would be Ndungu's third consecutive and, combined with his victories in the Houston Marathon from 1998-2000, make him one of only three runners to have won three consecutive races in two major-city marathons.

Stephen Ndungu calls himself an "amateur" compared to the top distance runners in his native Kenya. But if the 35-year-old father of three wins the 18th Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, he will join a select club. A victory would be Ndungu's third consecutive and, combined with his victories in the Houston Marathon from 1998-2000, make him one of only three runners to have won three consecutive races in two major-city marathons.

Stephen Ndungu says he has a poor finishing kick, but there was nothing wrong with the way he ran miles 18 through 23 in the 17th Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday morning. It was during that stretch that the 34-year-old Kenyan ran six consecutive miles at faster than five minutes per mile on his way to his second consecutive victory in the men's division. Ndungu's time of 2 hours 10 minutes 27 seconds lowered his previous best of 2:11:16 and made him the first man to win consecutive L.A.

Stephen Ndungu says he has a poor finishing kick, but there was nothing wrong with the way he ran miles 18 through 23 in the 17th Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday morning. It was during that stretch that the 34-year-old Kenyan ran six consecutive miles at faster than five minutes per mile on his way to his second consecutive victory in the men's division. Ndungu's time of 2 hours 10 minutes 27 seconds lowered his previous best of 2:11:16 and made him the first man to win consecutive L.A.

Mark Yatich of Kenya, the defending men's champion in the Los Angeles Marathon, has withdrawn from the March 7 race because he has malaria. Yatich won last year's race in a career-best 2 hours 9 minutes 52 seconds after surging past countryman and two-time defending champion Stephen Ndungu with less than 100 meters left in the 26-mile 385-yard race. "We got the word [Tuesday]," said Laurence Cohen, the media relations director for the marathon.

MEN *--* 1986 Ric Sayre 2:12:59 1987 Art Boileau 2:13:08 1988 Martin Mondragon 2:10:19 1989 Art Boileau 2:13:01 1990 Pedro Ortiz 2:11:54 1991 Mark Plaatjes 2:10:29 1992 John Treacy 2:12:29 1993 Joselido Rocha 2:14:28 1994 Paul Pilkington 2:12:13 1995 Rolando Vera 2:11:39 1996 Jose Luis Molina 2:13:23 1997 El-Maati Chaham 2:14:16 1998 Zebedayo Bayo 2:11:21 1999 Simon Bor 2:09:25 2000 Benson Mbithi 2:11:55 2001 Stephen Ndungu 2:13:13 *--* WOMEN *--* 1986 Nancy Ditz 2:36:27 1987 Nancy Ditz 2:35:24

A record turnout is expected for the Los Angeles Marathon when the 19th running of the 26-mile, 385-yard race starts this morning on Figueroa Street near 6th Street. More than 24,000 people had registered for the event as of 3 p.m. Saturday, leading meet organizers to expect the number of participants in today's event to top the previous high of 22,167 set last year. The wheelchair division is scheduled to start at 8:05 a.m.

A record number of runners, walkers and wheelchair racers are expected to start the 18th Los Angeles Marathon this morning when the race begins near the intersection of Figueroa and 6th streets. A little more than 23,000 people entered the marathon last year and race officials said the number of entries this year had surpassed that total by Saturday afternoon. The wheelchair division of the marathon will start at 8:10 a.m.

With a flatter and presumably faster course for the Los Angeles Marathon on Sunday, Kenyan Benson Mbithi is intent on bettering the time of 2 hours 9 minutes 25 seconds set by countryman Simon Bor in the 1999 race. Bor's time is the only sub-2:10 clocking in the L.A. Marathon since the race began in 1986, but Mbithi said Thursday at a news conference that it could be bested this year. "We all want to break it," said Mbithi, who finished third last year after winning the 2000 race in 2:11:55.

The rain stayed away Sunday. Instead, the wind showed up in its place and wreaked havoc with runners throughout the second half of the 16th Los Angeles Marathon. But by the time Stephen Ndungu outlasted a field of 21,072 and ran face first into the brutal headwind and tackled the rolling hills in Hollywood, the Kenyan already was beginning to open up an insurmountable lead.

In some ways, David Kirui fits the stereotype of the elite Kenyan marathoner. Kirui, 26, grew up in a rural village in the Rift Valley, where walking or running was his main form of locomotion. It was not uncommon for him to run six kilometers, nearly four miles, on the way to and from school. And he no doubt logged more mileage in races with classmates and games he played with family and friends. Living at 6,000 feet elevation also made for great training.

Twenty minutes and 30 seconds is the head start that the elite women's field will be given over the elite men when the running portion of the 19th Los Angeles Marathon starts at 8:12 a.m. Sunday on Figueroa Street near 6th. And, for the first time, a $50,000 bonus will be awarded to the first runner to cross the finish line of the 26-mile 385-yard race.