Australia's Gold Coast Marathon is a big draw for Japanese corporate leaguers these days. Japanese men have won it four of the last five editions, and the last time a Japanese man wasn't in the top two was 2015. Last year Naoki Koyama set a course record 2:07:40, then went on to win the Paris Olympic marathon trials, then 2:06:33 in Osaka this past February. Given that kind of progression, the field this year is packed with 2nd-tier Japanese men hoping to have the same success, ten of them who've run 2:07 to 2:09 in the last two years. Most of the action looks like it'll be down around the 3rd to 5th-ranked runners, with 2:07:53 Kenyan Timothy Kipkorir Kattam looking like the best bet to break the Japanese streak carried this year by Yuta Koyama , 2:07:57 in Osaka last year, and Mizuki Higashi , 2:08:03 in Osaka this year. The best potential for a breakthrough out of the Japanese men is Yota Ifuku , a Waseda University ekiden team member who broke the course record ...
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