Jon Brown (City of Sheffield), who has twice finished 4th in the Olympic marathon and Mara Yamauchi (Harrow), the leading British performer in Sunday’s London Marathon have been named in the Norwich Union Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the IAAF World Championships, which takes place in Osaka, Japan on 24 August-2 September.

Brown withdrew from Sunday’s London Marathon after suffering the effects of a virus in the days leading up to the race. His most recent outing at the distance was last December, when he ran 2:11:46 in finishing 7th in Fukuoka, Japan.

He will be joined in Osaka by Peter Riley (Leigh Harriers) and Dan Robinson (Stroud & District) who will complete the Norwich Union GB & NI men’s team for the IAAF World Cup marathon team event, which is incorporated into the IAAF World Championships.

Riley has been selected subject to fitness, which he will be asked to prove over an appropriate distance this summer.  Commonwealth bronze medallist Robinson was 9th on Sunday and was 12th at the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

Mara Yamauchi (Harrow), 6th in Sunday’s race, has been named in the women’s team.  Effectively, Yamauchi will be racing on home territory in Osaka, as she is based in Tokyo. Her World Cup team mates will be Kathy Butler (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow), Tracey Morris (Valley Striders) and Liz Yelling (Bedford & County).