The list of elite runners continues to grow for the 2010 XTERRA Trail Run National Championship at Bend, Oregon. More than 320 runners from across America have already registered for the Saturday, September 18 national championship race. By race day, more than 500 trail runners are expected to be on the starting line at Bend. Many of them are considered the best of the best in the ever-growing sport of trail running.

It all starts with the "XTERRA King of Trail Running" Max King (left). He is the two-time defending champion of the XTERRA Trail Run National Championship. King, 30, works as a bio-chemical engineer right in Bend, so the trails of Central Oregon serve as his training base.

King won last year's 21-kilometer race with a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 46 seconds. He finished more than six minutes ahead of his closest competition - an astonishing margin when considering the depth of the field.

King is the overwhelming favorite again this year, but there are many other contenders. An intriguing entry is Fujio Miyachi from Japan. He placed fifth at the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship race in Hawaii last year, and this will be his first try at the XTERRA Nationals in Bend.