Ethiopia's Yebrgual Melese will be the one to beat. She trimmed more than three minutes off her personal best time to finish third in Dubai in 2:19:36, and clocked 2:27:47 to place second at the Yellow River Estuary International Marathon in Dongying, China. And Sunday's race will be her third marathon of the year.

Helen Tola Bekele, who will celebrate her 24th birthday next week, is another woman to watch. The Ethiopian has improved her best time each season since making her debut in 2017, recently reducing it to 2:22:48 in Berlin.

The men's race features a star-studded field, spearheaded by former world record-holder Dennis Kimetto of Kenya, who remains as the biggest hope to break the 2:07:14 course record set in 2017.

Kimetto, the second fastest runner of all time, has not finished a marathon since April 2016, and his career best of 2:02:57 was beaten by Eliud Kipchoge two months ago.

Ethiopia's Tsegaye Mekonnen, 23, is the second fastest entry, setting his personal best of 2:04:32 in winning the 2017 Dubai Marathon. And his compatriot Seyefu Tura will also be in the field.

The elite field also includes other sub-2:10 runners such as Ethiopia's Yitayal Atnafu, runner-up at the 2018 Houston Marathon in 2:07:00, Kenya's Asbel Kipsang, a 2:07:30 performer competing in Shanghai for the third time after finishing second and third in 2017 and 2016.

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