Payne clocked 2.44.32 hr last year but hopes to improve his time, having finished this year’s London Marathon – in which he was the top ranked male 50 runner – in 2.39.31 hr.
The 50-year-old from Nuneaton in Warwickshire was ten minutes short of his personal best time of 2.29.02 hr, however, Payne believes he is returning to top form and should once again challenge to finish first.
Second placed in 2006, blind runner Kenyan Henry Wanyoike and guide Joseph Kabunja return, but top Jersey finisher from last year Chris Townsin, who came third, is out recovering from a broken foot.
Top Spartan at the London Marathon, and winner of the Alderney half marathon, Jon Coote is aiming to run under three hours.
‘My training has been a bit disrupted and I haven’t been able to do as much as I did for London, but I’m feeling good.
It would be nice to finish as the first local runner and maybe get into the top five – I’m looking for a time of around two hours 55 minutes.
‘Winning the Alderney race was good build up for this and I watched the Jersey race last year – coming back to West Park looked hard with the wind so that will be difficult as will Waterworks Valley, but at least that comes early on so you it’s out of the way quickly,’ he added.
UK runner Michelle Buckle, who won last year’s ladies’ race in 3.03.46 hr, will once again compete but Jersey hopefuls Amanda Brown, an Island Games half marathon silver medallist in Rhodes this summer, and Kerry Petulla have both withdrawn with injuries.
Former resident Maggie Mulvey has entered and is hoping to run around the three hours 15 minutes mark.
She returns to the Island with 21 of her team-mates from Wootton Road Runners in Northampton who have entered two teams in the relay and many in the main race.
The Standard Chartered Jersey Marathon, in association with Headway, has attracted 328 entries, so it is expected that they will beat last year’s figure of 216 finishers.
It starts at 9 am, and features runners from UK, Germany, Belgium and South Africa as well as the Channel Islands.
In the relay race, which starts at 9.30 am, there are currently 217 teams compared to the 165 of last year – this year’s teams include ‘The Zola Budweisers’, ‘Five Old Boozers Out For a Jog’, and the ‘Jade Goody School of Marathon Running’.
The Jersey Evening Post-sponsored 3k fun run, which starts at 10 am, has 174 people entered – and both the marathon, relay, and fun run will be timed using a ChampionChip.
A Jersey Sports Association for the Disabled 26 x 1 relay, run alongside the main marathon and relay, and a special wheelchair event starting at 9 am at Les Quennevais cycle track complete the programme of events.
