Elite Field Announcement: 59th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon on Feb 7

translated and edited by Brett Larner

On Jan. 18 the organizing committee for the 59th Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon announced the elite field of 15 for this year's Feb. 7 running. At the top of the list of ten Japan-based athletes is Kenyan Daniel Njenga (Team Yakult), who won last summer's Hokkaido Marathon and holds a PB of 2:06:16. Lining up against Njenga in his marathon debut is 2007 World Championships track runner Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu). Athens Olympics marathon 6th place finisher Toshinari Suwa (Team Nissin Shokuhin) is also in the field, and 2:08 man Tadayuki Ojima (Team Asahi Kasei) will be running as his final race before retirement.

The 5 overseas invited athletes are led by Kenyan Jonathan Kipkorir, who set his PB of 2:07:31 last year at the Paris Marathon. Joining him are the top two from last fall's Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Kenyan Kenneth Mungara and Ethiopian Chala Lemi, along with Lemi's countryman Tessema Abshiro who likewise holds a PB under 2:09, and Moroccan Mohamed el Hachimi. Altogether it may be the strongest overseas field Beppu-Oita has ever hosted.

59 and 60 year old world record holder Yoshihisa Hosaka will also return to the site of his last world record to go for his next, the 61 year old marathon world record. This year's Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon will be run on a new course, the first course change in 26 years. The new course is designed to minimize the effects of Beppu-Oita's notorious winds. The race will be broadcast live nationwide on TBS beginning at 11:50 a.m. on Feb. 7. Overseas viewers should be able to watch online using the Keyhole TV software available here. JRN will again offer live English race commentary via Twitter on JRNLive.

2010 Beppu-Oita Mainichi Marathon Elite Field

Daniel Njenga (Kenya/Team Yakult) - 2:06:16 (Chicago '02)
Jonathan Kipkorir (Kenya) - 2:07:31 (Paris '09)
Toshinari Suwa (Team Nissin Shokuhin) - 2:07:55 (Fukuoka '03)
Tadayuki Ojima (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:08:18 (Biwako '04)
Tessema Abshiro (Ethiopia) - 2:08:26 (Hamburg '08)
Kenneth Mungara (Kenya) - 2:08:32 (Toronto Waterfront '09)
Chala Lemi (Ethiopia) - 2:08:49 (Toronto Waterfront '09)
Mohamed El Hachimi (Morocco) - 2:10:24 (Vienna '09)
Kenichi Kita (Team Kyudenko) - 2:11:41 (Nobeoka '06)
Hiroyuki Horibata (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:11:47 (Tokyo '08)
Masashi Hayashi (Team Yakult) - 2:12:39 (Beijing '09)
Teruto Ozaki (Team Chugoku Denryoku) - 2:13:28 (Beijng '06)
Kentaro Nakamoto (Team Yasukawa Denki) - 2:13:53 (Tokyo '09)
Satoru Sasaki (Team Asahi Kasei) - 2:14:00 (Biwako '09)
Koichi Sakai (Team Fujitsu) - 2:14:29 (Beijing '09)
Martin Dent (Australia) - 2:14:46 (Fukuoka '08)
Brett Cartwright (Australia) - 2:15:02 (Fukuoka '07)
Yu Mitsuya (Team Toyota Kyushu) - debut - 1:29:55 (Kumanichi 30 km '09)
Atsushi Ikawa (Team Otsuka Seiyaku) - debut - 28:14.75 (10000 m, Niigata '09)
Yoshihisa Hosaka (Natural Foods) - 2:34:23 (59+ WR, Fukuoka '08)