It defies the mores of modern marathon running, but the sport's fate may lie in the hands of a rookie American, who trains in snowdrifts and went to a school lacking an athletics team. Ryan Hall aims to “move a million miles” and a metaphorical mountain as he plots a course to Beijing that has encompassed triumph and tragedy.

Big in Big Bear, California, he has no bugbear about the low profile he has elsewhere in the United States. Distance running is on the fringes in a country where the quick-fix rules, but Hall is the real deal. At 25, he will be competing in London on Sunday in only his third marathon, but Stefano Baldini, the Olympic champion, has cited him as “the future”.

It is 100 years since Johnny Hayes, a New Yorker, won the marathon at the London Olympic Games and 27 since Dick Beardsley became the first of only two American men to win the London Marathon. Hall is threatening the African hegemony, with the memory of Ryan Shay, his friend who collapsed and died at the Olympic trials in November last year, a motivating factor.

For Hall, who won the trials on a difficult course in 2hr 9min 2sec, it proved a bittersweet day. “I had no idea what happened until 20 minutes afterwards and then I remembered there was an ambulance behind us trying to get round,” Hall said. “I was stunned. I was on this super-big high and then that.”

Hall attends church with Alicia, Shay's wife, but there was no danger of him being dissuaded from the most gruelling of athletic events. “I want to savour every day because you never know when you'll be running your last race,” he said. “I knew Ryan would want me to celebrate because it was such a big moment for me, but I found my mind wandering back. It put things in perspective.”

Abstinence is no homage, though, and Hall has said that he is running for Shay. London is the pressing aim, but Beijing is the endgame. It is why Hall, a committed Christian, has strong views about the flames fanned by the Olympic torch debacle. “I'd be devastated if the US boycotted the Games,” he said. “My heart goes out to what's going on in Tibet, I'm a humanitarian and I don't want to see anyone suffering, but at the same time I've dreamt about the Olympics my whole life. This is my chance to stand on the world stage and I hope the Olympics do not get lost amid all this controversy. I hope the athletes still get celebrated.”

Courtesy of Baldini, a 36-year-old Italian, Hall is being championed as the man to take on the Africans. Hall is just happy to be have the recognition of his townfolk in Big Bear. “My community has started a campaign called ‘Move A Million Miles For Ryan Hall',” he said. “Everyone logs all their self-propelled miles on the internet. The goal is to move a million miles by the time I race in Beijing. I am seeing more people out, which is great because it's never been much of a fitness community.” The bad news is the target for each person has risen from four miles a day to 16.

The weather for London on Sunday is supposed to be poor, while the heat and humidity of Beijing is well documented. Hall has no fears. “Me and my dad would have snow-training days at home,” he said. “We'd hike up and snowboard down. There's another place we go where I can't see out of my window for snow, but we have things like chains for your shoes and I put those on.”

Hall was seventh in London last year in 2hr 8min 24sec, which was the fastest marathon debut for an American. He believes he is in good enough shape to improve on that time here, which would put him among the likes of the Kenyans Martin Lel, the New York marathon winner last year, and Luke Kibet. The latter arrives in London after being caught in the violence in his home town of Eldoret, being threatened at knifepoint and bearing a scar on the back of his head.

Hall believes that he has the desire and strength to beat the best. Whatever the apathy levels in Big Bear, he is not a million miles away.