Cosmas Lagat will return to India to defend his Mumbai marathon set for a fortnight while Worknesh Alemu to defend her women title on 19th January.
The Kenyan won the title in 2:09:15, the second-fastest winning time in race history, losing course record with 40 seconds of 2:08:35 set Gideon Kipketer in 2016.
Lagat will be aiming to become just the second man to win back-to-back titles just like former Commonwealth Games champion John Kelai who won in 2007 and 2008.
Alemu upset the pre-race form book in 2019 and won in Mumbai in a personal best of 2:25:25, which was also the second-fastest winning time in race history
She improved her best to 2:24:42 later in 2019 when finishing sixth at the Amsterdam Marathon in October.
All the leading women will have as their target the course record of 2:24:33 set by Kenya’s Valentine Kipketer in 2013.
Source: World Athletics