A record field of nearly 4000 runners is expected Sunday for one of the highlights of the Austin racing calendar: The 3M Half Marathon is the sixth of the seven races in the Austin Distance Challenge.

Now in its 13th year, 3M has a well deserved reputation as one of the best half marathons in the country—and it’s certainly one of the fastest. But the Downhill Doozie course has been substantially altered for this year’s running due to installation of a new turf at House Field where the race has traditionally finished. This year (and probably next) the point-to-point race will finish on Trinity Street at Waterloo Park.

The 3M Half will still begin at 7 a.m. on Stonelake Boulevard (between Baby A’s and the Embassy Suites) right outside the Gateway Shopping Center in north Austin and plunge on a mostly downhill trek toward downtown. The first five miles of the course will be the same as it has been, but the course will go farther north than prior years. After some zigging and zagging through the neighborhoods, it will take Foster Road to get over to Burnet where it will head south (for miles seven and eight) before hooking up with North Loop to 53rd Street (15-K mark). From there, the course will go south on Duval (miles 10 and 11) before going through Hyde Park and the UT campus. The race will finish on Trinity, near Waterloo Park at 15th Street where all the post-race festivities will be held.

Race official Al Sawicki belives the revised course will even be faster than the traditional course. "We’ll have much longer straightaways on this course," says Sawicki, "and still have plenty of good downhills."

At least two uphills have been eliminated, including that tricky one in the final mile on Guadalupe, just before the steep downhill to House Field.

After the race, there will be transportation back to Gateway if you have parked your car there. Race officials urge runners to park their cars at Gateway as there is more parking than near Waterloo.

There’s plenty of incentive to run fast at 3M. It’s one of the premier, PR-type half marathon courses in the country and it has drawn the attention of elite runners from around the world. Prize money also helps get their attention. Winners get $1500 (with incentives for event records) and goes down through the top 10. There’s also prize money in the masters divisions.

Nicodemus Malakwen who ran 1:01:45 last year is returning to defend his title. Malakwen ran 2:14 a couple of weeks ago in Houston, but recovers very quickly and is probably the favorite at 3M.

Some of the other top men coming to Austin include a host of Ethiopians who train together in Westchester, New York such as Alen Reta (who was second to Malakwen last year in 1:2:01) and Deresse Deniboba. Such top Kenyans as David Cheruiyot, Joseph Chirlee and Joseph Ngetich are also expected to contend.

The top Americans coming to town include Teddy Mitchell, Joe Driscoll, Nate Jenkins, Dan Maher and Ricky Moore. Local studs Lance Parker, Paul Pugh and Greg McMillan (who all train together) are planning to run.

The women will be led by Kathy Butler of Great Britain (who trains in Nederland, Colorado), Hana Mitic and Rebecca Tallin of Kenya, Michelle LaFluer of Georgia and Anjellica Sanchez of Mexico who won 3M two years ago. Local women expected to run include Desiree Ficker (who has won the last two Austin Distance Challenge races), Christine Kimbrough and possibly Cassie Henkiel and Carmen Troncoso.

Benficiary of 3M is Capital Area Food Bank. The sponsoring 3M Corporation guarantees $25,000 to the Food Bank and over the years, the race has raised $215,000 for this worthy cause.

Packet pickup and registration is Friday (10-7) and Saturday (10-6) at the downtown location of RunTex (422 W. Riverside). There is raceday packet pickup near the start. Come early as race officials expect this year's field will surpass the 3835 who ran the '03 race.

The weather forecast for Sunday is near perfect. It should be in the low 50s at the start without any rain in the forecast.