The drawing power to this race -- much like the city that plays host to it -- is in the neighborhoods.

Bloomfield, Shadyside, South Side, the Strip District, East Liberty and so on -- the Pittsburgh Marathon is a race among the people, winding through the city's main thoroughfares, rising and falling with the landscape, crossing bridges and cutting through the cores of both residential and business areas.

It truly is a race that highlights the heart of Pittsburgh.

Which is why, when the race is run on May 3 after a six-year hiatus, it will draw both locals looking for nothing more than to test their endurance and complete the 26.2 miles, and national elite runners looking to navigate that distance quicker than any of their competitors.

Joe Sarver is the elite coordinator for the race, given the task of trying to drum up interest and then construct the field of racers who have a realistic shot at capturing the crown, and the $4,000 each that goes to the man and woman who finishes first.

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2009 Dick's
Sporting Goods
Pittsburgh Marathon

• When: May 3
• Events: Marathon, marathon relay, half marathon, wheelchair races and kids marathon
• Start times: 6:30am -- Walkers for the Full Marathon, Half Marathon and Marathon Relay 7:15am -- Wheelchair Division (Rim and Hand Cyclists) 7:30am -- Marathon, Half Marathon, and Marathon Relay Start
• Start: On Smallman Street in the Strip District between 11th and 12th streets
• Finish: On the 10th Street Bypass under the David L. Lawrence Convention Center overhang
• Prizes for men and women marathon top finishers: 1st - $4,000; 2nd - $2,500; 3rd - $1,500; 4th - $1,000; 5th - $500.
• Prizes for men and women half-marathon top finishers: 1st - $2,500; 2nd - $1,000; 3rd - $500; 4th - $350; 5th - $250.

PDF: See a map of the 2009 Pittsburgh Marathon route.

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Mr. Sarver has found one of the primary lures for the more than 4,200 marathoners -- and about 40 elite runners -- is the course's winding route through the city's neighborhoods.

"Runners like to come here, they like to be part of something in the City of Champions, they like to run through a course with these fans," Mr. Sarver said. "You can say that especially for people from the tri-state area, but even with runners in the national pool, they have shown that they want to come to Pittsburgh.

"One of the biggest reasons is that they are running through neighborhoods, through the real people. This is not some point-to-point race, but one where you are part of the whole city as you compete."

This marathon, as much as any other around the country, is equal parts athletic undertaking for the competitors and one city-wide block party for the thousands of spectators.

On the North Side, cheer squads from the city's public schools will urge runners on.

More than 30 bands and DJs will line the course, with North Side, South Side, Shadyside, Bloomfield and Oakland organizing official parties.

Those official parties don't begin to measure the full depth of the festivities along the course.

With virtually each step a runner takes -- whether it is fleet-footed or one betraying a struggle to continue -- Pittsburghers will line the route, encouraging the participants on.

In a way, it will seems as if a small city is competing, as the 4,200 marathoners will make up just a portion of the approximately 10,800 participants who will compete in the marathon, relays, half marathon, wheelchair races and kids marathon that carry a total purse of $35,500.

The start line for all the adult events will be along Smallman Street in the Strip District, with the finish line located on the 10th Street Bypass under the David L. Lawrence Convention Center overhang.

The premier event, the men's marathon, won't have a blockbuster field, but it will be dotted with some elite racers who have made noise at the collegiate, national and international levels.

Ethiopian Kassahun Kabiso, 25, will be one of the top racers. He is the course record holder of the Vancouver Marathon and finished second last month in a marathon in Atlanta, turning in a 2:22.25. Mr. Kabiso has also broken 2:20 in the New York City marathon and marathons in California.

Fellow Ethiopian Genna Tufa, also 25, comes with a very real chance of winning. He won three marathons -- the Quad City, Bank of America in Florida and Memphis marathon -- in 2007 and the Salt Lake City marathon last year. He ran sub-2:18 in all of those races.

James Jurcevich, a former distance standout at Michigan State, is one of the Americans who would look to have a chance in the men's marathon field, as he's run 2:14 in the past and also ran the event in 2004 and 2008 Olympic Trials qualifying.

So, precisely what will it take to win here?

Mr. Sarver thinks he has some idea.

"The men, I would say, as long as the weather cooperates, it should be about 2:16 or 2:18, somewhere in that range," he said. "And the women, I would think it will be right around 2:36 or 2:38. We have runners who have run that time and I would guess that is something they could do on this course and I would look for the winner to be right around there."

One woman who has her eye on winning is Kristin Price, 27, a former Penn-Trafford High School and North Carolina State standout distance runner who lives in Raleigh, N.C., but is welcoming a chance to come home and run.

Ms. Price's parents, who still live in the area, did a bit of reconnaissance for her this past weekend.

"They tried to scope it out for me, they drove the course in their car for me," said Ms. Price, who works as a food research technician in a peanut lab in Raleigh. "But from what they said, I don't know if I really know what to expect. They looked at every bump and every hill and they got back to me about it, and one thing that I can take away is that it is pretty rolling and hilly, but not as much as [the marathon course in] Boston.

"Other than that, though, I really don't know what to expect."

For certain, Ms. Price should expect very tough competition.

The women's field will be led by Ethiopian Serkalem Abrha, who won in Atlanta earlier this year (2:41.21) and Hartford last year (2:38.37).

Ms. Price knows this could turn into a case of the rest of the field chasing Ms. Abrha.

"Time-wise, I just don't know what it will take, I think it would have to be under 2:40," Ms. Price said. "I would think the big threat will be Serkalem Abrha. She is the one person that I think everyone will see her name and think that would be the person to beat."

Phebe Ko, a Utah native who starred at Duke, also is someone who has a good chance and has been running well lately, finishing third in Richmond last year.

There is also a heavy local flavor with the elite women, who in addition to Ms. Price include two-time winner Tammy Slusser from Monroeville and accomplished Greensburg marathoner Cheryl Collins-Gatons. Ms. Slusser, 43, won the Pittsburgh Marathon in 1994 and 2000.