New York, NY - Rotterdam Marathon champion Lorna Kiplagat thinks this might just be her year to win the New York City Marathon.

So does the New York Road Runners' Chief Executive Officer Mary Wittenberg, who is in her first year as race director, who tipped the 31- year-old Kenyan-born citizen of The Netherlands as the likely winner of the ING sponsored race which takes place this Sunday 6 November.

Kiplagat, who stands 12th in the IAAF World Ranking for Road Running, has finished in the top 10 here the last three years. She was eighth in 2002, third in 2003 and seventh in 2004. But this year, she says, "I've prepared differently." "Before this year I used to do a lot of miles - 140-150 miles (200-plus km) a week, and it was way too much for me and I'd get injured. And if I didn't get injured I came to the race tired."

"This year I've been doing more speed work on the road but running less mileage, I've cut it down to100 -110 miles a week, and for the first time in four years I haven't missed a day of training."

Kiplagat who has been training in Boulder, Colorado for the past three months, adds, "I really feel I've improved a lot this year. If all goes well - of course it's a marathon, so nothing is sure - but if all goes well..."

She also feels that her three previous races play in her favour. "I know the course better, which should be helpful."

Her recent racing results also indicate she is ready to do well here. On October 1 in Edmonton, Canada, she finished second in the World Half Marathon Championships behind Romania's Constantina Dita- Tomescu. Before that, she had won nine straight major road races at distances from the Peachtree 10km (31:17) to the Rotterdam Marathon (2:27:36).

Right now, says Kiplagat, "I feel very good."