By John Kwoba
NAIROBI, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- London marathon bronze medalist Bedan Karoki of Kenya is hopeful he will win in Fukuoka, Japan on Dec. 3.
Karoki, who is based in Tokyo, will be running at his second marathon in his adopted country after posting sterling show on his debut in London marathon, where he emerged third in 2:07:41.
"This race offers me a window of opportunity to get a marathon title to my name. I have done well on the track and cross country and hopefully, I will be able to gain similar success in marathon," he said on Tuesday.
In London six months ago, Karoki was never viewed as a favorite, though he felt in excellent condition at the halfway point but like many debutantes he lacked the experience to carry his form throughout the race as distance caught him out in the last nine kilometers.
He staggered across the line in third in 2:07:41, four seconds ahead of Chicago Marathon silver medalist Abel Kirui.
In Fukuoka, Karoki will have a tougher task as he seeks to wrest the title away from defending champion Yemane Tsegay from Ethiopia and Stephen Kiprotich from Uganda, the 2012 Olympic and 2013 world champion.
The Ugandan holds a personal best time of 2:06:33 for second in Tokyo two years ago and was forced off Landon marathon list with an injury.
Another front-runner should be Lani Rutto from Kenya, who has clocked 2:06:34, while Satoru Sasaki is the fastest home athlete with 2:08:56.
Norway's Sondre Nordstad Moen will be looking to improve on his 2:10:17 PB after a 59:47 half marathon in Valencia while Australia's Collis Birmingham and New Zealand's Jake Robertson are other top overseas contenders.
A win for Karoki will be looked at favorable by the coaches in Kenya ahead of naming the team that will represent the country at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.
Karoki has raced in seven half-marathons since his 59:58 debut in 2014, running an impressive sub-60-minute performances in six meetings and topping the podium in five of them.
"My long term target is making it to the Team Kenya marathon squad to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics if I remain in good form. I'm based in Tokyo, I'm so used to the climate there, it's my second home and it will feel great to make it to the team," said Karoki.
