Reiko Tosa and Naoko Sakamoto, who both ran in the women's marathon at the Athens Olympics last summer, are among six runners on the Japanese team in the Yokohama International Women's Ekiden later this month, athletics officials said Tuesday.
The Japan Association of Athletics Federations said Tosa and Sakamoto will run at the Feb. 27 ekiden, which begins and ends at Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse in the port city's Minato Mirai redevelopment zone.
Catherine Ndereba, who took the marathon silver in Athens, will head the Kenyan team while defending champion Ethiopia will have Meseret Defar, who won the Olympic 5,000-meter gold, as one of its members.