Brazil's Ronaldo da Costa and Gert Thys of South Africa will run in next month's Tokyo International Marathon along with top Japanese invitee Shigeru Aburaya, organizers said Wednesday.
Da Costa, whose winning time of 2 hours, 6 minutes and 5 seconds in Berlin in 1998 is ranked third in the world, and 1999 Tokyo marathon winner Thys are among six foreign runners invited to the Feb. 9 race.
Aburaya, fifth at the 2001 world championships, heads the list of five domestic invitees with a personal-best time of 2:07:52.
For Japanese runners, the upcoming race will serve as a qualifier for the world championships in Paris in August.