Khalid Khannouchi, the man who lost the marathon world record last month, hopes he can be the one who breaks Paul Tergat's mark of 2:04:55, set two weeks ago in Berlin.

"I was not surprised by what Paul did," Khannouchi said after the marathon's Friday press conference at the Hilton-Chicago. "I was surprised by second (Sammy Korir -- 2:04:56), third and fourth places. We can go faster. It would be nice to break the world record in Chicago in 2005!" Why not 2004? Khannouchi plans to be running the Olympic Marathon next year in Athens.

Khannouchi, who has won The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon four times in five tries, including a 2:05:38 in 1999, that stood as the world record until he broke it with a 2:05:38 in London last year.

So what's going through Khalid's mind, knowing he won't be running this year as he nurses a knee injury so he'll be a full throttle for next year's Olympic Trials and Olympics themselves in Athens.

"I'm going to be very nervous," he said. "I would much rather be running. When I run here, I feel like I'm running with extra energy. That's the attitude I have when I come here. I like to compete. That's what I like to do when I come here."

More notes and quotes from the press room . . .

Rod DeHaven praised the marathon for its support of American runners through special prize money and stipends to runners who meet the "A" or "B" qualifying standards for the Olympic Trials when they run here on Sunday."

DeHaven ran his PR of 2:11:40 here in 2001 and hopes to break 2:12 again, which is the Olympic (not Trials) "A" standard for next year.

Joan (Benoit) Samuelson, who ran 2:21:21 in Chicago in 1985, a mark that stodd as the American record until this past April, when Deena Drossin ran 2:21:16 in London, said she has a warm spot in her heart for Chicago.

"I always feel like I'm coming home when I come to Chicago," said Samuelson, who won the first women's Olympic Marathon in 1984 among her many accomplishments. "It's hard to believe it has been 18 years since I gave it everything I had in Chicago. It was difficult to see the record finally go this past spring, but Deena Drossin is very deserving. We have a lot to look forward to in women's running."

Jenny Spangler of Gurnee is excited to be running her first marathon in a long time. She won the Olympic Trials with a 2:29:54 in 1996, but has battled injuries since. She also gave birth to her first child, Kelli, in 2001. "I've been doing a lot of my training runs with a baby jogger," said Spangler, who hopes to run in the 2:38-2:40 range. "I'm trying to make sure I go out under control. I'm going to go out and run this race more on effort than on time."

Jenny can count on a lot of support on the race course. Watch for Bib. No. 112 and cheer her on!

American Dan Browne, who has a 2:11:35 on his resume, is running to get get a good time without blowing up. "I am running conservatively and I'm not going to try something I shouldn't try."

Colleen De Reuck, South African-turned American, hopes to get under 2:32, the Olympic "A" standard for women (Trials qualifying "A" is 2:40). "I want to go out in 74 minutes," she said. "I spoke with Deeja Youngquist, and she also wants to go out in 74. It would be nice to be in a group. I just want to have a good racing experience.

Meb Keflezighi of Mammoth Lakes, CA, is an American, whose potential is huge. He is strong in the 10,000-meters (U.S. record-holder), but he is leaning to the marathon for now and will try for sub-2:12. Last year, he ran a 2;12:35 at new York, and has changed his training this time and expects to improve. "I think my body will be better prepared in this one," he said. "At New York, I was running a lot of 4:36s and 4:40s during the first half. This time, I won't run any mile faster than 4:50. I want to go out in 1:04:45 or 1:05. I went out in 1:03:48 in New York."

Abdelkader El Mouaziz is a real threat to win. The Moroccan placed sixth at London in the spring and has not raced since. He has several long time trials by himself and feels very fit, he told reporters.

A runner to watch on Sunday is Evans Rutto of Kenya. He has the speed and training to excel on the Chicago course. This will be his marathon debut. Another pick to click? Don't ignore Joseph Ngolepus, also of Kenya. One the women's side, look at Lidia Simon of Romania and Svetlana Zakharova of Russia.