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Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Names Elite Field for 2009 World Championships Selection Race Edition

http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/general/track/news/20090115k0000m050021000c.html

translated by Brett Larner

The organizing committee of the 58th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon (sponsored in part by the Mainichi Newspapers Group and Rikuren), announced the names of this year's elite field on Jan. 14. Defending champion Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei), who won last year's race in his marathon debut, will return to headline the field. Keita Akiba (Team Komori Corp.) will make his highly-anticipated marathon debut after a dazzling run at the New Year Ekiden. Times are expected to be fast as runners will be competing not only for the win but also for a place on the 2009 Berlin World Championships marathon team.

The domestic elite field includes 11 invited runners. Since winning last year Adachi has focused on improving his speed, setting a new 10000 m PB later in 2008. He came up a disappointing 3rd in an intense three-way sprint finish on the anchor stage of this year's New Year Ekiden, but with a heavy focus on marathon training he is confident of improving his mark to 2:09.

Akiba won the 2nd stage of the 2007 New Year Ekiden, and this year he won the New Year Ekiden's 4th stage to confirm that he is among the very best runners in the country. Other invited domestic elites include 2008 Tokyo Marathon 10th place finisher Takashi Ota (Team Konica Minolta), 2005 Beppu-Oita 4th place finisher Tomonori Onitsuka (Team Kyudenko), and Takayuki Nishida, who set the best-ever domestic Beppu-Oita mark of 2:08:45 in 2001.

Among the domestic contenders in the general division are 2007 Tokyo Marathon 4th place finisher Masashi Hayashi (Team Yakult), 2003 Los Angeles Marathon 5th place finisher Takashi Horiguchi (Team Honda) and, making his marathon debut, Nishida's teammate Ryosuke Fukuyama (Team JAL Ground Service).

The field also features 6 invited foreign elites. Leading the way is 2:08:49 runner Peter Kiprotich from the land of the marathon's kings, Kenya. Australian Scott Westcott, who finished 2nd in 2005 and was 3rd last year, will return once again.

602 runners are entered in this year's race, an increase of 97 from last year. The race begins and ends at Oita's Civic Track and Field Grounds and will be broadcast live nationwide on TBS beginning at 11:50 a.m. on Feb. 1.

Click here for a complete listing of the 2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon field.

2009 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Elite Field
Takayuki Nishida (Team JAL Ground Service) - 2:08:45 (Beppu-Oita 2001)
Peter Kiprotich (Kenya) - 2:08:49 (Frankfurt 2007)
Yukinobu Nakazaki (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 2:09:28 (Tokyo Int'l 2004)
John Kemboi (Kenya) - 2:09:29 (Amsterdam 1999)
Michitane Noda (Team Kanebo) - 2:09:58 (Fukuoka 2003)
Seiji Kobayashi (Team Mitsubishi Nagasaki) - 2:11:02 (Tokyo 2008)
Adil Annani (Morocco) - 2:11:05 (Marrakesh 2008)
Scott Westcott (Australia) - 2:11:36 (Beppu-Oita 2005)
Tomoya Adachi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:59 (Beppu-Oita 2008)
Takashi Horiguchi (Team Honda) - 2:12:06 (Los Angeles 2003)
Takashi Ota (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:12:10 (Tokyo 2008)
Kazushi Hara (Team Mitsubishi Nagasaki) - 2:12:11 (Biwako 2004)
Takehisa Okino (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:12:24 (Beijing 2006)
Yusuke Kataoka (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:12:28 (Beijing 2007)
Tomonori Onitsuka (Team Kyudenko) - 2:12:48 (Beppu-Oita 2005)
Dale Warrander (New Zealand) - 2:12:58 (Fukuoka 2003)
Joseph Keino (Kenya) - 2:13:35 (Ferrari 2008)
Masashi Hayashi (Team Yakult) - 2:15:28 (Tokyo 2007)
Shinji Tateishi (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 2:15:48 (Nobeoka 2007)
Kenichiro Kawazu (Team NTN) - 2:17:16 (Biwako 2008)

Debut Marathoners (half marathon times)
Kenichiro Setoguchi (Team Asahi Kasei) - 1:02:13
Toru Okada (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 1:02:15
Koichi Mitsuyuki (Team Honda) - 1:02:34
Keita Akiba (Team Komori Corp.) - 1:02:35
Ryosuke Fukuyama (Team JAL Ground Service)- 1:02:49
Yoshihiro Murata (Team Honda) - 1:03:16
Kenshin Daiko (Team JAL Ground Service) - 1:03:41
Hiroki Tanaka (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 28:31.35 (10000 m)

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