Edna kiplagat during the 2017 Boston marathon.[PHOTO/Nation]World marathon champion Edna Kiplagat is ready for Marugame Half Marathon on February 4 in Japan.
Kiplagat, a silver medalist in marathon at last year’s IAAF World Championships, highlights the women’s entry list which has attracted eleven elite athletes so far.
Kiplagat will lead fellow Kenyan Betsy Saina in hunting for medals against a star-studded field. The two will face competition from United States of America’s Sara Hall and Australia’s Jessica Trengoveare who are poised to trouble the Kenyan pair
In the men’s category, World record-holder Zersenay Tadese of Eritrea heads the men’s entries. Tadese who doubles up as five-time World Half Marathon champion set the world record of 58:23 back in 2010 and will be competing in Marugame for the first time in his long and distinguished career.
He will face off with Kenyan trio of Bernard Kimani, Dominic Kiptarus and Wilson Kiprono Too, as well as Uganda’s Moses Kibet. Kiptarus finished fourth at the World Cross Country Championships junior race in Guiyang, China.
The home fans will be hoping that national record-holder Yuta Shitara or his compatriots Kenta Murayama and Keijiro Mogi, will become the first Japanese athletes in 12 years to win the men’s race in Marugame. Japan’s Kayoko Fukushi, a three-time winner in Marugame, is also in the field, along with compatriots Michi Numata and Mai Ito.