When Japan stages the first World Marathon Majors of 2025 in Tokyo this Sunday, Kenyan marathoners will be sending signals.
They will indicate on who might be in Kenya’s marathon squad for the 2025 Tokyo World Championships slated for September at the Japanese capital.
Leading the Kenyan charge in the race on Sunday are stars who are not strangers on the streets of Tokyo.
Defending champion Benson Kipruto and 2023 winner in the women’s race Rosemary Wanjiru are top marathoners in the Tokyo Marathon contest.
They will be joining 169 formidable elite athletes who will stomp the streets starting from the Tokyo Metropolitan Building and finishing at Tokyo Station.
Kipruto will be taking to the start line a rich racing CV, which includes the 2:02:16 course record from his stunning 2024 win.
The former Boston Marathon winner will have Vincent Ngetich, who placed third during the 2024 event.
But they face a strong field that has Derese Geleta with a 2:02:38 personal best.
Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, the 5,000m and 10,000m world record-holder will be looking for his first triumph on the road as he takes another stab at the classic distance.
Kipruto will also face 2022 Amsterdam marathon runner-up Titus Kipruto and Uganda’s Stephen Kissa a second-placer at the 2022 Hamburg 42km race and a strong contingent from Ethiopia.
The 2024 win propelled Kipruto to the Kenyan Olympic squad at the Paris Olympics.
He went ahead to claim bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the year since he won this event.
Wanjiru, the 2023 champion faces defending champion Sutume Asefa Kebede of Ethiopia.
The 2022 Berlin Marathon runner-up will be renewing rivalry with the woman who denied her a back-to-back win last year. Wanjiru was second behind Asefa last year and a catfight is imminent on Sunday. Former world record-holder and Olympic silver medallist Brigid Kosgei was also entered and if she starts, she injects more speed and experience to the field. On the women’s entry are the last three winners, Asefa, Wanjiru and Brigid Kosgei.
The 2022 world champion Gotytom Gebreslase, last year’s Dubai winner Tigist Ketema and another group of six women in the 2:17 and 2:19 range are among marathoners to watch.
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