<p>Kenyan Henry Sugut and Moses Kibet of Uganda will start as the men to watch at the 19th edition of the Nagano Marathon, an <strong>IAAF Bronze Label Road Race</strong>, on Sunday (16).</p>
<p>Sugut is the fastest runner in the field with a best of 2:06:58 recorded in the 2012 Vienna Marathon. However, the 31-year-old hasn&rsquo;t cracked 2:10 since April of 2013. Most recently he clocked 2:12:40 at the Cannes Marathon last November.</p>
<p>Kibet meanwhile, with a more modest 2:13:55 lifetime best set at last year's Chunchon Marathon, might be the man to beat, given his 13:15.18 personal best over 5000m on the track and a recent 1:01:55 victory at a half marathon in Madrid just 12 days ago.</p>
<p>A third invited runner from abroad is Okbay Tsegay of Eritrea, who'll be making the marathon debut. He'll arrive armed with best of 28:25.29 for 10,000m from 2016 and 1:03:10 for the half marathon from 2015.</p>
<p>Ser-Od Bat-Ochir of Mongolia, who lives and trains in Japan, is also in the field, and with a 2:08:50 personal best from the 2014 Fukuoka Marathon, is the second fastest among the starters.</p>
<p>Bat-Ochir is one of the most prolific marathoners in the world, having contested at least four 42.2km races each year since 2010. Last year, he ran seven including Nagano where he was second. His last race was October's Osaka Marathon where he was fourth in 2:13:43. His last respectable race was at the 2015 Hamburg Marathon where he was sixth in 2:10:15.</p>
<p>Another runner who lives and runs for a Japanese corporate team is Kenyan Cyrus Njui, who has a personal best of 2:09:10 set in Tokyo in 2011. More recently he clocked 2:14:48 at last August's Sapporo Marathon where he finished second.</p>
<p>Leading the domestic field is Taigo Ito, who finished third in this race one year ago. In this year&rsquo;s Beppu-Oita Marathon, Ito improved his personal best by 17 seconds to 2:10:52. He's run in Nagano three times, finishing third in 2014 and 2016 and fifth in 2015. Since his 2:10:52 is the fastest recorded among the entrants in the last three years, Ito may be in the best form on Sunday. If he wins he'll be just the second Japanese after Yuki Kawauchi to claim the title.</p>
<p>Other Japanese runners in the field include Tatsunori Hamasaki, who has a best of 2:12:12 from the 2015 Tokyo Marathon, Shota Yamaguchi, who has a 2:13:13 from the 2015 Nagano Marathon, and Yuki Oshikawa, who recorded his 2:13:24 personal best at Lake Biwa in 2014.</p>
<h3>Ethicha vs Wangari in the women&rsquo;s race</h3>
<p>The women&rsquo;s field features a pair of runners who'll bring sub-2:28 credentials to the start line: Fantu Eticha of Ethiopia and Miriam Wangari of Kenya. Eticha produced her best of 2:26:14 in the 2015 Dubai Marathon while Wangari's best of 2:27:53 came in the Xiamen Marathon that same year.</p>
<p>The two have met head-to-head twice, splitting their two encounters. In the 2016 Xiamen Marathon Eticha was third with 2:26:53 and Wangari fifth in 2:33:27; four months later at the Yellow River Marathon in May, Wangari was second in 2:31:22 and Eticha fourth with 2:32:32.</p>
<p>A third entrant from abroad is Racheal Mutgaa but with no sub-2:30 or sub-1:13 performances to her credit in the marathon or half marathon, she isn't expected to challenge for the win.</p>
<p>Leading the domestic field is Aki Otagiri, with a best of 2:30:24 from the 2015 Nagoya Women&rsquo;s Marathon. Yumiko Kinoshita, who has a 2:35:49 best also from 2015, is also in the field. Kinoshita has run twice in Nagano, finishing fifth in 2014 and third in 2015.</p>
<p>Former greats have also been invited to participate as guests outside of the elite competition. They include 2000 Olympic marathon champion Naoko Takahashi, 1988 Olympic Eriko Asahi, world 100km record holder Takahiro Sunada and 2009 Tokyo Marathon winner Mizuho Nasukawa.</p>
<p>The race dates back to 1999, a year after Nagano hosted the Winter Olympic Games to commemorate those Games. Organisers expect 10,000 runners to take part. They have five hours to complete the course.</p>
<p><strong>Ken Nakamura for the IAAF</strong></p>
<div><strong>Invited runners (with PBs):</strong></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>MEN -</strong></div>
<div>Henry Sugut, KEN, 2:06:58 (2012 Wien)</div>
<div>Moses Kibet, UGA, 2:13:55 (2016 Chunchon), 1:01:37 half marathon</div>
<div>Okubay Tsegay, ERI, Debut, 1:03:10 half marathon</div>
<div>Ser-Od Bat-Ochir, MGL, 2:08:50 (2014 Fukuoka)</div>
<div>Cyrus Njui, KEN, 2:09:10 (2011 Tokyo)</div>
<div>Taiga Ito, JPN, 2:10:52 (2017 Beppu-Oita)</div>
<div>Tatsunori Hamasaki, JPN, 2:12:12 (2015 Tokyo)</div>
<div>Shota Yamaguchi, JPN, 2:13:13 (2015 Nagano)&nbsp;</div>
<div>Yuki Oshikawa, JPN, 2:13:24 (2014 Lake Biwa)</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div><strong>WOMEN</strong></div>
<div>Fantu Eticha, ETH, 2:26:14 (2015 Dubai)</div>
<div>Miriam Wangari, KEN, 2:27:53 (2015 Xiamen)</div>
<div>Racheal Mutgaa, KEN, 2:30:11 (2015 Guangzhou)</div>
<div>Aki Otagiri, JPN, 2:30:24 (2015 Nagoya)</div>
<div>Yumiko Kinoshita, JPN, 2:35:49 (2015 Tokyo)</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>

Kenyan Henry Sugut and Moses Kibet of Uganda will start as the men to watch at the 19th edition of the Nagano Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, on Sunday (16).

Sugut and Kibet the favourites in Nagano

<p>Four-time champion Imane Merga will return to Atapuerca, near the Spanish city of Burgos, for the 12th &ldquo;Cross Internacional de Atapuerca&rdquo;, the first of three Spanish races scheduled for this winter&rsquo;s<strong> IAAF Cross Country Permit</strong> series which will get under way this Sunday (15).</p>
<p>As it has become tradition, the organisers have assembled a star-studded line-up to take on the 2011 world cross country champion Merga in the 9000m race, including his fellow Ethiopian Muktar Edris, who pushed him to the line last year when a photo finish had to decide the winner r after several minutes of uncertainty.</p>
<p>The 27-year-old Merga will try to bounce back from a relatively below-par track season, when he only could finish 13<sup>th</sup> over 5000m at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 after also failing to finish in the 10,000m and take his fifth consecutive win.</p>
<p>As for Edris, the 2015 world cross country championships bronze medallist improved his 10,000m best to 27:17.18 when winning in Hengelo this summer but finished in 10<sup>th</sup> place in Beijing.</p>
<p>However, last month, the 21-year-old former world junior 5000m champion returned to form and was a comfortable winner of a good quality international 10km road race in the Italian city of Trento.</p>
<p>Everything seems ready for a replay of the Merga-Edris showdown from last year but the Ugandan pair of Timothy Toroitich and Moses Kibet might want to differ.</p>
<p>The 24-year-old Toroitich completed a classy podium last year following fourth place the previous season and he will be aiming to continue his progression in Atapuerca.</p>
<p>The Ugandan enjoyed a successful winter on Spanish soil last winter with no less than four victories &ndash; in Soria, Alcobendas, Venta de Banos and Amorebieta &ndash; before finishing a creditable eighth in the world championships 10,000m.</p>
<p>Kibet is the other top 10 finisher from last March&rsquo;s world cross country championships in Guiyang, China, and he won the junior men&rsquo;s bronze medal at the 2009 world cross country championships.</p>
<p>After a modest track season, Kibet returns to his speciality while Eritrea&rsquo;s Goitom Kifle completes a theoretical top-five on Sunday, but there will also be a strong local squad of runners.</p>
<p>The large Spanish group includes former European cross country champion Alemayehu Bezabeh, Adel Mechaal, emerging talents Ilias Fifa, Toni Abad&iacute;a, Roberto Alaiz and Carlos Mayo, former European 5000m champion Jes&uacute;s Espana, the experienced Ayad Lamdassem, as well as marathoners Javier Guerra and Carlos Castillejo.</p>
<p>They all will be looking for a place on the Spanish team for the European Cross Country Championships in the French city of Toulon-Hyeres on 13 December.</p>
<h3>Cherono against the Ethiopians in the women&rsquo;s race</h3>
<p>The women&rsquo;s field assembled for the 8000m event is also of the highest calibre, thanks to the presence of the Ethiopian trio of 2014 Atapuerca winner Belaynesh Oljira, Senberi Teferi and Alemitu Haroye plus Kenya&rsquo;s Mercy Cherono.</p>
<p>Oljira, who won bronze medals in 2013 in both the world championships 10,000m and at theworld cross country championships that year, arrives fresh from a solid 1:10:42 half marathon effort in October but Teferi could be a hard to beat as the 20-year-old is also the silver medallist from this year&rsquo;s IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March. Teferi also performed brilliantly on the track this summer and got a world championships 5000m silver medal.</p>
<p>Haroye finished just two places behind Teferi at the world cross country championships in Guiyang and should also be a factor on Sunday.</p>
<p>Cherono, the 2013 world championships 5000m silver medallist, had to settle for fifth in Beijing but will be looking to make a quick impact at the start of her winter campaign.</p>
<p>The 24-year-old also excels on grass and mud, having won the junior women&rsquo;s world cross country title in 2010 and has a fine knowledge of the circuit having been present on the podium for the last three years with a haul of two third places, in 2012 and 2013, and a second place last year.</p>
<p>The European challenge should come from Polish marathoner Iwona Lewandowska, a winner last month at the World Military Games, and reigning Spanish cross country champion Trihas Gebre while the 2014 European 3000m steeplechase bronze medallist Diana Mart&iacute;n will be back in action again after returning from injury, which prevented her going to Beijing.</p>
<p>The weather forecast is for a sunny day, much less colder than usual at this time of year, with the thermometer reaching up to 15 degrees Celsius.</p>
<p><strong>Emeterio Valiente for the IAAF</strong></p>

Four-time champion Imane Merga will return to Atapuerca, near the Spanish city of Burgos, for the 12th “Cross Internacional de Atapuerca”, the first of three Spanish races scheduled for this winter’s IAAF Cross Country Permit series which will get under way this Sunday (15).

Sugut and Kibet the favourites in Nagano

Merga aims to continue winning streak at opening IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting in Atapuerca