On Nov. 12 the organizers of the 2010 International Chiba Ekiden announced the entry lists for this year's edition, scheduled as always for Nov. 23. The last of the great international ekidens, Chiba has in recent years scaled down to an interesting format of mixed-gender teams, with top men and women from 12 teams worldwide alternating stages on a six-leg, 42.195 course.
Notable names on the list this year include:
Bobby Curtis (U.S.A.) - 2008 NCAA 5000 m champion
Atsushi Fujita (Chiba Pref.) - former marathon nat'l record holder
Wilson Kiprop (Kenya) - 2010 African 10000 m champion
Yuriko Kobayashi (Japan) - 1500 m nat'l record holder
Maria Konovalova (Russia) - 3rd, 2010 Chicago Marathon
Hiroki Mitsuoka (Japan Univ.) - 2010 nat'l univ 5000 m champion
Ed Moran (U.S.A.) - 2010 U.S.A. road 10 km champion
Craig Mottram (Australia) - 2005 WC 5000 m bronze medalist
Kasumi Nishihara (Japan Univ.) - 2010 nat'l univ 5000 m champion
Yuki Sato (Japan) - Japanese men's 10000 m all-time #3
Yuichiro Ueno (Japan) - 2009 double 1500 m and 5000 m nat'l champion
Teams scheduled to compete include:
Australia
Canada
Chiba Prefecture
Czech Republic
Italy
Japan
Japanese University Select Team
Kenya
Norway
Romania
Russia
U.S.A.
For a complete entry list, click here. The race will be broadcast live on Fuji TV from 1:00 to 3:25 p.m. on Nov. 23, Japan time. Overseas viewers should be able to watch online for free via Keyhole TV, available here.
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