Japanese men's marathon record holder Toshinari Takaoka is set to run in February's Tokyo International Marathon.
Takaoka's coach Kunimitsu Ito said the time is right for Takaoka to compete in the race, which serves as a qualifier for local runners for the track and field world championships in Helsinki next August, and believes he can produce a good time on the Tokyo course.
Takaoka, who missed out on a place at the Athens Olympics, posted a time of 2 hours, 7 minutes, 50 seconds to take third place at the Chicago Marathon last month. He is set to compete in the national corporate ekiden championship on New Year's Day in preparation for the Tokyo race.