Start of the 2017 Soochow 24 Hour race (© Organisers)
A record eight countries will compete in the 2018 IAU Asia & Oceania 24 Hour Championship on 1-2 December in Taipei City.
The event will be held in conjunction with the Soochow 24 Hour race, this year celebrating its 18th edition.
Twenty-one women and 25 men will be competing in the championship, representing Australia, Chinese Taipei, Japan, India, Jordan, Mongolia, New Zealand and The Philippines. India and Jordan will be making their premiere at the continental event. In all, 65 runners - including those competing in the open race - will take part.
The Japanese squad, favourites for the team title, will be lead by Yoshihiko Ishikawa, who covered 270.870km to take the 2017 world 24 Hour title in Belfast. Ishikawa also won the Soochow event last year.
Others to watch include Ivan Lopez from Spain who ran 273km at a race in June, the winner of 2017 Gobi challenge Daniel Lawson, the current Sweden record holder Johan Steene, Jodie Oborne of Australia and top French runner Stephane Ruel.
The race gets underway at 9am local time (GMT+8) on Saturday 1 December. Realtime results will be available at .
Jacek Bedkowski (IAU) for the IAAF
