Japanese to seek Olympic selection – Tokyo Marathon PREVIEW

15 February 2008 – The 2008 Tokyo Marathon, second edition of a mass city marathon that tours the metropolis is scheduled to be held this Sunday 18 February. The race also doubles as an Olympic qualifying for the men’s marathon.

The course starts in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan government office building, tours through some of the best known sites in Tokyo, like Imperial Palace, Ginza, Asakusa and finishes in front of the Tokyo BigSight, an international exhibition center. It is different from the original Tokyo Marathon course, which started and finished in the national stadium.

Defending champion Njenga poised for win

The fastest runner in the field is the defending champion Daniel Njenga, a former World Junior record holder (8:19.21 in 1994) and the 1995 World University Games gold medallist both at 3000m Steeplechase. Njenga made a breakthrough at the 2002 Chicago Marathon, when he finished second with 2:06:16.