HUNTINGTON -- Jason Pyles of Huntington is excited about running a big distance race on his home turf.

Pyles and his wife, Marian, travel all over for distance runs as members of Team Strands that provides training gear from Puma and covers travel to events for a group of elite runners.

He went to Texas in February for the Austin Half Marathon and recorded a personal-best time of 1 hour, 7 minutes, 49 seconds.

In May he was in Eugene, Ore., for the Eugene Half Marathon and took third place overall with a time of 1:11.48.

This week, the Pyles' are staying home for the West Virginia 5K Championship.

"Just roll out of bed and go run," Pyles said.

The West Virginia 5K Classic is Saturday with an 8 a.m. start between 8th Street and 9th Street on Veterans Memorial Boulevard. The 3.1-mile course loops around the downtown.

Race director Pat Riley reported 260 pre-registered runners on Saturday and said he anticipates getting many more because runners are notorious for signing up late. Registration continues all week at www.tristateracer.com and at the United Way office, 820 Madison Ave.

Pyles said the publicity the race is getting and the lineup of runners he's hearing about have raised the level of the event.

"Me and Marian over the last few months have been in Austin, Eugene and Virginia Beach and those were a lot bigger events," he said. "But, for a local race this is big."

The 27-year-old Pyles has won numerous Tri-State distance races including the Huntington Bun Run 5K in 2008 and Ashland Summer Motion 10K (four times).

Pyles and his wife are running Saturday before embarking on new careers as the University of Charleston track and field and cross country head coach and assistant coach respectively.

They both ran for Marshall University. Jason Pyles was also a member of the Thundering Herd men's basketball team for the 2000-01 season. He's originally from Gallipolis Ferry, W.Va., and graduated from Point Pleasant High School. Marian (Brooks) Pyles, 25, is from Flat Top, W.Va. She holds several Marshall distance run records.

"Through high school my first love was basketball and thought maybe I'd be a basketball coach," Pyles said. "Once I got into running full time, I realized how much I loved it and quickly saw I wanted to be a coach."

Pyles anticipates a fast pace Saturday morning on the flat USATF-certified course. Riley predicted a winning time of about 14:30 to 14:45.

Eric Putnam is considered the favorite to win. Putnam, the track and cross country coach a Shawnee State University in Portsmouth Ohio, is strong in 5K races, Pyles said. He mentioned Marshall cross country runner Matt Schiffbauer as a darkhorse.

"With the depth of runners that are going to be at this run, I think that first mile is going to be moving," Pyles said. "The 5K is short enough that if you let somebody go, you're not going to catch them."

Marian Pyles shared the 2008 Summer Motion 10K winner's stand with her husband and was also the first female runner in the 2008 Bun Run.

She also ran Eugene (Ore.) Half Marathon and was 28th overall with a time of 1:21.57.

The women's championship Saturday could be up for grabs between Marian Pyles and her friend, West Virginia University assistant coach Jennifer Davis, who was an All-American runner for the Mountaineers.

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Jason Pyles travels far and wide to race as a member of Team Strands. He's glad to be racing at home this Saturday in the West Virginia 5K Championship.

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