Patrick Smyth of Salt Lake City, Utah, is favored to defend his Xterra Trail Run World Championship title in the half-marathon race and has quickly become one of the country’s best trail runners.

Earlier this year, Smyth won the U.S. Trail Half-Marathon Championships in Bellingham, Wash., and was the top American (10th overall) at the World Mountain Running Championships held in Italy in September.

The Xterra will be held Sunday at 9 a.m. at Kualoa Ranch and features not only the half-marathon for males and females, but 5K and 10K trail runs. There will be 2,000 runners from 20 countries and 40 states taking part in the race. It is the final event in the 100-stop worldwide Xterra trail run series. The male and female winners in the half-marathon will earn $2,000.

Smyth, a seven-time All-American in cross country and indoor and outdoor track at Notre Dame, calls the Xterra Trail Run World Championship "the culmination of my 2014 season. I’ve been gearing all my recent training toward this race. The course at Kualoa Ranch is amongst the most memorable (and) beautiful I’ve ever run on, and that played a big role in my decision to come back — but more than anything I want to repeat as World Champ."

Smyth is likely to be tested by fellow Utah native Brett Hales, who claimed the Xterra Trail Run National Championship held at Ogden, Utah, in September. The victory came in Hales’ first competitive trail run, but the Weber State track and cross country standout has also won several traditional half-marathon events in 2014.

Allie McLaughlin of Colorado Springs is expected to lead the women’s field after claiming bronze and finishing as the top American runner at the World Mountain Running Championships. The 24-year-old University of Colorado cross country product was named Women’s Mountain Runner of the Year last week by the USA Track & Field’s Mountain Ultra Trail Council.

For more information, go to www.xterrakualoa.com.