Ryan Hall, who shattered the American half-marathon record two weeks ago in Houston, has chosen London for his first ever marathon.

Hall, the 24-year-old Stanford graduate, is the latest star name to sign up for the 2007 men's Flora London Marathon on April 22 when he will line up alongside the legendary Haile Gebrselassie, the world record holder Paul Tergat, the world champion Jaouad Gharib and the Olympic champion Stefano Baldini.

Hall became the first North American ever to run the half marathon in under an hour when he won the Aramco Houston Half Marathon in 59:43, beating the 21-year-old record by 72 seconds. He also defeated the Olympic marathon silver medallist Meb Keflezighi, and is now the 13th fastest half marathon runner of all time.

After Houston, Hall announced that he was looking to make his marathon debut in the spring to gain experience ahead of the US Olympic marathon trials to be held as part of the ING New York City Marathon in November.

"We are delighted that Ryan has chosen the Flora London Marathon to make his debut at the distance," said London race director David Bedford. "Ryan has shown that he is a very exciting talent in superb form and he will be a valuable addition to the illustrious elite field we announced recently."

"It's going to be really hard and I'm expecting it to be more challenging than anything I've ever done," said Hall of his first marathon experience. "I'm just going to go out there and stick my nose in it."