by Brett Larner The Tokyo Marathon office reported on Mar. 20 that last year's 3rd place finisher Julius Gitahi (Team Nissin Shokuhin/Kenya) has withdrawn from tomorrow's race with an unspecified injury. Women's invited elite Rong Chen (China) has also withdrawn after sustaining an injury while training on Mar. 18. The following general elite division runners have also withdrawn: Men James Mwangi (Team NTN/Kenya) Toshiya Katayama (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) Naoki Mishiro (Team Fujitsu) Manabu Nishida (Team NTT Nishi Nihon) Masatoshi Ibata (Team Aisan Kogyo) Tsuyoshi Igarashi (Team JR Higashi Nihon) Kazuyoshi Tokumoto (Team Nissin Shokuhin) Women Yuka Aikawa (Team Acom) Rei Miura (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) Atsuko Higo (eAthletes Tochigi AC) (c) 2009 Brett Larner all rights reserved
the world's window into elite japanese distance running, since 2007