Takayuki Nishida added his name to the list of Japanese marathon hopefuls for this summer's World Championships on Sunday, winning the Beppu-Oita Marathon in a meet record time of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 45 seconds.
The 23-year-old Nishida, running in only his third marathon, pulled away from the lead pack with 10 km left of the 42.195-km race and crossed the finish line in a steady rain at Oita municipal stadium with the 11th best time in Japanese marathon history.
Atsushi Fujita was named to the Japanese national team after winning the Fukuoka international marathon with a Japan best time of 2:06:51 in December.
Brazil's Vanderlei Lima finished second in 2:10:02 while Shinji Kawashima, 21st at the Sydney Olympics last September for Japan, came in third at 2:10:36.