The Main Organising Committee of the Okpekpe 10km International Road Race on Tuesday confirmed that most of the invited foreign athletes for the competition are scheduled to start arriving in Nigeria on Thursday.

Director of Organisation of the race, Zack Amodu, confirmed Tuesday night that the five athletes from Ethiopia namely, Deriba Merga, Tilahum Regassa, Abere Chane Lema, Sofia Shemsu and Salam Abere Alebachew were booked to arrive in Lagos Thursday enroute to Okpekpe in Etsakor East Local Government Area of Edo State.

“We are also expecting Moses Masai, Yusuf Biwott, Fredrick Kipchumba, Betty Chepleting and Georgia Rono all from Kenya to arrive in Lagos tomorrow. Also on the flight to Lagos, should be Timothy Troitich from Uganda and several others,” Amodu said.

Merga holds a personal best time of 27mins 23secs in the event. He placed second at the 2nd 2012 New York City Half Marathon. He won the first 2011 RAK Half Marathon in United Arab Emirates as well as the Jianazhen Half Marathon in China a year earlier.

Regassa on the other hand is the champion of the 2013 Rotterdam Marathon in The Netherlands.

Masai who holds a personal best time of 27mins.19secs in the 10km race, picked a bronze medal in the 10,000km event of the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany. He narrowly missed the podium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as he placed fourth.

Kipchumba holds a personal best time of 28mins.02secs in the 10km. He won the Rapperswill 9.1km race in Switzerland in 2012 as well as placed second in the Paderborn 10km race in Germany early this year.