Background: At Mira Mesa High, LaPrath made a name for himself as a sprinter, running on the Marauders' 4x100 relay team that twice qualified for the state meet. A former Union-Tribune pressman, LaPrath moved to longer distances around 1990 when he ran in the paper's old 10K Race for Literacy. (The event is now an 8K.) At 45, LaPrath has developed into one of the county's best age-group distance runners. He has run 16 marathons, including a 2-hour, 51-minute personal best at the 2005 Chicago Marathon. At Saturday's Balboa Park 8 Mile, LaPrath won his age group in 52 minutes, 18 seconds, a 6-minute, 32-second per-mile pace.

Quick hits: LaPrath lives in Allied Gardens. He works as a tour director and event planner, plus works part-time as a salesman at Movin Shoes. His 26.2-mile goal: break 2 hours, 50 minutes.

Favorite workout: Running on the beach at low tide and after a 1-to 2-mile warmup, LaPrath enjoys running two minutes at 5K pace (5:35 per-mile), followed by a one-minute jog. He'll run six sets of the workout. “It's the speed,” LaPrath said. “That's what I'm used to. Plus the feeling of the wind and the fresh ocean air.”

Quotable: The 5-foot-11, 155-pound LaPrath on what he likes about running: “Besides keeping me in shape, I can eat whatever I want.”

Favorites file: TV program: “The Simpsons”; Book: “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle; Movie: “Silence of the Lambs.” LaPrath on Anthony Hopkins' role in the movie: “You're talking about one of the scariest villains of all time.”

– DON NORCROSS