OSAKA -- Kenyan defending champion Lornah Kiplagat and Japan's Mizuki Noguchi, winner in Nagoya in her marathon debut in March, head the list of 20 invitees to next month's Osaka International Women's Marathon, organizers said Wednesday.
Kiplagat and Noguchi are in the field for the Jan. 26 race along with Masako Chiba, runnerup in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in April, and fellow Japanese Kayoko Obata and Hisae Yoshimatsu.
The Osaka race will serve as a qualifier for Japanese runners for next year's World Championships in Paris.