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Gebrselassie heads Fukuoka entries

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TOKYO, Japan -- Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie heads a strong field for the 60th running of the prestigious Fukuoka marathon on December 3.

The two-time Olympic and four-time world 10,000m champion will be running his fifth marathon and is determined to sign off his 2006 season with a victory.

"I just want to be run and win in Fukuoka," he said. "I will not be attempting a personal best or a world record. I will just race to win."

Nevertheless, a fast time is almost guaranteed with Gebrselassie taking on Morocco's twice world champion Jaouad Gharib and holder Dmytro Baranovskyy of Ukraine.

Japan's Tsuyoshi Ogata, the 2004 winner and a world championship bronze medal winner, is also in the line-up.

Gebrselassie, 33, ran the world's best time of the year and set a national record when taking the Berlin marathon in September in 2:05.56.

But he ran '"the worst race of my career'" when fading badly at the London marathon in April, slipping to ninth place.

This year's Fukuoka race will also double as a Japanese domestic qualifier for next year's athletics world championships in Osaka.

The top Japanese in the race will earn a place on the squad for the worlds, as long as they run under 2:09:30.

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