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Hokkaido Marathon Brings Back Elite Field for 2013 Edition

by Brett Larner

 After cutting its elite program in 2012, the Hokkaido Marathon returns to the top of Japan's summer circuit this year with a solid silver label-quality men's and women's fields sure to be wasted in the heat of its 27th running on August 25th.  Highlights of the men's and women's entry lists are below.

Men
Gezahegne Abera (Ethiopia) - 2:10:17 (Barcelona 2013)
Satoshi Yoshii (Team Mitsubishi Juko Nagasaki) - 2:10:45 (Biwako 2011)
Ryosuke Fukuyama (Team Honda) - 2:10:59 (Biwako 2013)
Mekubo Mogusu (Kenya/Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:11:02 (Tokyo 2013)
Kazuya Ishida (Team Nishitetsu) - 2:11:57 (Nobeoka 2012)
Masaki Shimoju (Team Konica Minolta) - 2:12:18 (Nobeoka 2010)
Tatsunari Hirayama (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 2:12:38 (Nobeoka 2013)
Dickson Marwa (Tanzania) - 2:12:53 (Gold Coast 2003)
Masanori Ishida (Team Sagawa Express) - 2:13:07 (Beppu-Oita 2013)
Sho Matsumoto (Nikkei Business AC) - 2:13:38 (Nobeoka 2013)
Takehiro Arakawa (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:13:39 (Beppu-Oita 2012)
Kenzo Kawabata (Team Aisan Kogyo) - 2:13:40 (Biwako 2011)

Women
Risa Shigetomo (Team Tenmaya) - 2:23:23 (Osaka Women's 2012)
Yukiko Akaba (Team Hokuren) - 2:24:09 (London 2011)
Mai Ito (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - 2:25:26 (Nagoya Women's 2012)
Yuko Watanabe (Team Edion) - 2:25:56 (Osaka Women's 2013)
Mika Okunaga (Hammock AC) - 2:27:16 (Osaka Women's 2009)
Sumiko Suzuki (Team Hokuren) - 2:29:25 (Tokyo 2012)
Hiroko Miyauchi (Team Kyocera) - 2:32:20 (Yokohama Women's 2009)
Roman Gebregessese (Ethiopia) - 2:32:28 (Barcelona 2010)
Seika Iwamura (Team Higo Ginko) - 2:33:15 (Osaka Women's 2010)
Abebech Tsegaye (Ethiopia) - 2:35:45 (Luxembourg 2011)

(c) 2013 Brett Larner
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