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Gharib and Tekeste to Headline Fukuoka International Marathon

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/flash/KFullFlash20101118070.html
http://mainichi.jp/enta/sports/news/20101119k0000m050060000c.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Nov. 18 Rikuren announced the elite field for this year's Fukuoka International Marathon scheduled for Dec. 5, the first of the domestic selection races for the 2011 World Championships marathon in Daegu, Korea. Beijing Olympics silver medalist and two-time World Championships gold medalist Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) leads the overseas invited field while a large group of Japanese elites will vie for a World Championships berth.

The domestic field includes 2005 World Championships marathon bronze medalist Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku), 2009 World Championships marathon team member Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo), 5000 m and 30 km national record holder Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta), and in his marathon debut 3000 mSC national record holder Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Fujitsu).

Gharib will be running Fukuoka for the second time after finishing 3rd in 2006. Joining him in the field of seven foreign elites are 2010 Boston and 2009 Fukuoka runner-up Kebede Tekeste (Ethiopia) and last year's 3rd-place finisher and 2005 Fukuoka winner Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine). Of the seven, Gharib holds the fastest PB with a time of 2:05:27. Two-time defending champion Tsegay Kebede (Ethiopia) will not return this year after competing in last month's Chicago Marathon.

2010 Fukuoka International Marathon Elite Field
click here for complete field listing in English
Jaouad Gharib (Morocco) - 2:05:27
Dmytro Baranovskyy (Ukraine) - 2:07:15
Kebede Tekeste (Ethiopia) - 2:07:23
Tomoaki Kunichika (Team S&B) - 2:07:52
Toshinari Suwa (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:07:55
Tsuyoshi Ogata (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:08:37
Satoshi Irifune (Team Kanebo) - 2:09:23
Tomoya Shimizu (Team Sagawa Express) - 2:09:23
Takayuki Matsumiya (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:10:04
Adam Draczynski (Poland) - 2:10:49
Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:11:04
Dmitriy Safronov (Russia) - 2:11:51
Luis Feiteira (Portugal) - 2:11:57
Masatoshi Oike (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:12:15
Tomohiro Seto (Team Kanebo) - 2:12:21
Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) - 2:12:36
Tomonori Onitsuka (Team Kyudenko) - 2:12:48
Kenta Oshima (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:12:54
Kim Min (Korea) - 2:13:11
Norio Kamijo (Team Aichi Seiko) - 2:13:37
Andrew Lemoncello (U.K.) - 2:13:40
Tetsuo Nishimura (Team YKK) - 2:14:22
Chiharu Takada (Team JR Higashi Nihon) - 2:14:34
Takeshi Ueno (Team JFE Steel) - 2:15:26
Toru Okada (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 2:16:21
Fasil Bizuneh (U.S.A.) - 2:16:47
Masato Imai (Team Toyota Kyushu) - 2:18:34
Yoshitaka Iwamizu (Team Fujitsu) - debut - 1:02:21 (half)
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