Hideyuki Obinata and 12 other Japanese runners will be among the invitees participating in the upcoming Biwako (Lake Biwa) Marathon in Shiga Prefecture on March 2, organizers said Tuesday.
The race which will start and end at Ojiyama track and field stadium in Otsu will serve as a qualifier for this summer's World Championships in Paris.
Obinata, who owns a personal best time of 2 hours, 8 minutes, 52 seconds, will take part in the race along with Pusan Asian Games runnerup Koji Shimizu and Atsushi Sato, who has been active on ekiden road-relay races this season.