Kenneth Mungara set a race record, an Australian all-comers record and a world masters best when winning the 2015 edition of the Gold Coast Marathon and he may have to do all three again to retain his title at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race on Sunday (3)

Sylvia Kibet may not yet consider herself a full-fledged marathoner but the Kenyan looks likely to be in the running for a first title in just her second career race at the inaugural Saitama International Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, on Sunday (15).

Kenya’s Lucy Kabuu is the leading name in the women-only elite field for the first Saitama International Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, on Sunday 15 November.

The 32nd Osaka Women’s Marathon on Sunday, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, will be held on a course that is essentially the same as that used for the 2007 IAAF World Championships and local interest centres on whether Kayoko Fukushi can finally get it right and deliver a performance worthy of her potential.

Last year, it was the men who stood in the 10K spotlight at the Cardinal Invitational at Stanford University in California. Abraham Chebii's memorable win, the fastest ever in a US competition, ended up the year as the season's best, as Mebrahtom Keflizighi toppled a 15-year-old American record in the race.