Men's Elite
| Name | Country | PB | Comment |
| Tamirat Tola | Ethiopia | 2:04:11 | Defending champ/course record holder |
| Endeshaw Negesse | Ethiopia | 2:04:52 | Won ’15 Tokyo but has only finished 1 marathon since |
| Sisay Lemma | Ethiopia | 2:05:16 | Ran his PR here in ’16 when he was 4th; 3rd in ’17 |
| Girmay Birhanu | Ethiopia | 2:05:49 |
Tested positive for meldonium in ’16 and faced potential jail time in Ethiopia but now back racing again |
| Mosinet Geremew | Ethiopia | 2:06:12 | 3rd in Berlin in Sept. behind Kipchoge & Adola |
| Sisay Jisa | Ethiopia | 2:06:27 | Finished 4th last year, his first sub-2:10 in almost 5 years |
| Ronald Kipkoech Korir | Kenya | 2:07:26 | 3rd in Madrid last year |
| Adugna Takele | Ethiopia | 2:08:31 | 7th in Shanghai last year |
| Asefa Mengstu | Ethiopia | 2:08:41 | 7th at ’17 London, then won Cape Town in Sept. |
| Mekuant Ayenew | Ethiopia | 2:09:00 | 2016 Beijing champ lowered his PR to 2:09:00 in Prague in ’17 |
| Berhanu Teshome | Ethiopia | 2:09:03 | Has run 2:09 twice |
| Seifu Tura | Ethiopia | 2:09:26 | 2nd in Seoul last year in his debut |
| Joseph Kiptum | Kenya | 2:09:56 | This is his first marathon since ’13 |
| Herpassa Negasa | Ethiopia | 2:10:17 | Has run 2:10:17 in his last 2 marathons (’15 Lyon, ’16 Mumbai) |
| Ken-Ichi Jiromaru | Japan | 2:15:24 | |
| Yenew Alamirew | Ethiopia | debut | Track stud (12:48/27:19, ’13 DL 5k champ) has never raced beyond 10 miles |
| Derara Desalegn | Ethiopia | debut | 61:45 half pb from Shanghai last year |
| Birhanu Legese | Ethiopia | debut | 59:20 HM man beat out Leonard Korir to win New Delhi Half in Nov. |
| Leul Gebresilase | Ethiopia | debut | 6th in Ethiopian Oly Trials 10k in ’16; 59:18 HM pb |
| Fikadu Haftu | Ethiopia | debut | Ran big PR of 59:22 HM to finish 4 secs behind Gebresilase in Valencia in Oct. |
| Kuma Terecha | Ethiopia | debut | 62:40 HM pb |
| Armon Napuat | Vanuatu | ??? |
Women's Elite
| Name | Country | PB | Comment |
| Aselefech Mergia | Ethiopia | 2:19:31 | 3-time champ/course record holder was most recently 12th at Worlds |
| Mare Dibaba | Ethiopia | 2:19:52 | 2015 world champ/’16 Oly bronze medalist was 8th at Worlds |
| Feysa Tadese | Ethiopia | 2:20:27 | Ran 2:20 in ’14 but hasn’t cracked 2:25 since |
| Worknesh Degefa | Ethiopia | 2:22:36 | Her debut at ’17 Dubai was a huge success as she won the race |
| Roza Dereje | Ethiopia | 2:22:43 | Ran 4-min PR in Shanghai in Nov. in her 7th marathon in 22 months |
| Yebrgual Melese | Ethiopia | 2:22:51 | 3rd last year, then finished 2nd in Paris (PR), & 2nd in Frankfurt |
| Sutume Asefa | Ethiopia | 2:24:00 | 4th in ’16; runner-up in Toronto in October |
| Azmera Abreha | Ethiopia | 2:25:23 | Ran a solid 2:25 for 3rd in her debut in Amsterdam last year |
| Gelete Burka | Ethiopia | 2:26:03 | ’08 World Indoor 1500 champ/ ’15 Worlds 10k runner-up runs 4th marathon here |
| Yinli He | China | 2:27:35 | Ran 5 marathons last year but only one under 2:40 |
| Netsanet Gudeta | Ethiopia | 2:29:15 | Only ran 2:29 in her debut last year but ran 67:26 HM last year; 3rd at ’15 World XC |
| Anne-Mari Hyrylainen | Finland | 2:32:19 | Ran her PR here last year; 25th at Worlds |
| Ababel Yeshaneh | Ethiopia | 2:33:10 | 14th at ’16 Olympics in 5k; 67:21 HM pb |
| Tesfenesh Merga | Ethiopia | 2:35:31 | |
| Waganesh Mekasha | Ethiopia | 2:46:08 | |
| Senbere Teferi | Ethiopia | debut | 2nd, 5th, 4th at last 3 global champs in 5k; 14:29 pb. Just 22. |
| Genet Yalew | Ethiopia | debut | 66:26 HM pb; 5th at ’16 World Half champs |
| Dera Dida | Ethiopia | debut | 2nd in jr race at ’15 World XC; 14th in 10k at ’17 Worlds. Just 21. |
| Muliye Dekebo | Ethiopia | debut | 69:10 HM at age 18 last year |
| Haftamnesh Tesfay | Ethiopia | debut | |
| Desi Jisa | Bahrain | debut | 15th in 10k at Worlds last year; 69:07 HM pb |
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