On Aug. 6 the organizing committee of the 2010 Hokkaido Marathon, scheduled for Aug. 29 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, released the names of this year's invited athletes. Defending men's champion Daniel Njenga (Team Yakult) returns to face 2008 winner Masaru Takamizawa (Saku Chosei H.S. AC). The pair will be challenged by this year's Sapporo International Half Marathon winner Silas Njui (Team Hitachi Cable) in his marathon debut, and former Hakone Ekiden star Mekubo Mogusu (Team Aidem) who dropped out of his marathon debut at last December's Fukuoka International Marathon.
The women's race features 2008 winner Yukari Sahaku (Team Universal Ent.) along with teammates Mizuho Nasukawa, the 2009 Tokyo Marathon winner, and Yumiko Hara, the 2007 Osaka International Women's Marathon winner. The Hokkaido Marathon is the first women's domestic qualifying race for next summer's World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. Any Japanese woman winning the race will earn consideration for one of the five places on the national team.
8861 runners, 7459 men and 1402 women, are entered for this year's race, beating last year's record entries by over 500. The race will follow the new course introduced last year and will begin at 12:10 p.m on the east side of Nakajima Park. The Hokkaido Marathon will be broadcast live nationwide including live English-language commentary via Twitter on JRNLive. Check back for further details.
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