NAIROBI, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Kenyans Julius Keter will be eyeing to return to the winner's podium at the Nagano Marathon on April.

"I have cleared my training program and am working on speed in the last week. Hopefully, we will go through this preparations without a hitch and focus on winning the race in Japan," said Keter.

Keter will face stiff competition from Uganda's Jackson Kiprop, who holds a personal best time of 2:09:32 and Ethiopia's Abdela Godana (2:09:45) while Japanese-based Ethiopians Abiyot Abinet and Yeneblo Biyazen, who have recorded fast time in 10,000m races will be making their marathon debuts.

Kenya's Beatrice Jepkemboi and Pauline Wangui will be leading women course eyeing to add the city's marathon to her collection.