Oita Marathon to take centre stage

Hug recently won the Berlin Marathon on 30 September and following Oita will compete in the New York Marathon on 4 November.

The 32nd Oita Marathon on Sunday (28 October) will be full of contenders from this summer’s London 2012 Paralympic Games, with 306 racers from 11 countries set to take the start line in Oita, Japan.

“Swiss Silver Bullet” Marcel Hug will be one to keep tabs on in the men’s T34/53/54 event, which he has won in Oita the last two consecutive years. Hug won silver at the London 2012 Paralympic Marathon, finishing just one second behind winner David Weir in a time of 1:30:21.

Hug recently won the Berlin Marathon on 30 September and following Oita will compete in the New York Marathon on 4 November – the first of his preparations for the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships next year in Lyon, France.

His teammate, veteran Heinz Frei, will also compete in the same event, which he has won a record 14 times dating back to 1991. Frei finished in 11th place at London 2012 and sixth at last year’s Oita Marathon.

Local fans will definitely have plenty of talent to cheer on, as Japanese racers Higuchi Masayuki and Soejima Masazumi, who finished second and third, respectively, last year, will be back again.

In the same event on the women’s side, USA’s Amanda McGrory, who just missed out on a medal at London 2012 after finishing fourth, will try to defend her Oita title. She will face stiff competition from Canada’s Diane Roy and Japan’s top female racer Tsuchida Wakako, who took fifth in London.

The men’s T33/52 class will be highlighted by Spain’s defending champion Santiago Sanz and Japan’s world-record holder Ueyonabaru Hirokazu.

Japanese racer Inoue Satoshi will be one to watch in the men’s T51 class.