TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Paris Olympics men's marathon sixth-place finisher Akira Akasaki said Friday he will try to earn a spot at the world athletics championships by improving his personal best time at the Tokyo Marathon this weekend.

Sunday's Tokyo Marathon is the men's last race of the Japan Marathon Championship Series, which selects runners to represent the country at September's world championships in Tokyo.

"I'll concentrate on my run first, and then I'll try to grab my spot if I get a chance," Akasaki told a press conference in Tokyo. "I know I have to renew my personal best. I hope to deliver a performance that can satisfy myself."

His personal best time of 2 hours, 7 minutes and 32 seconds came at the difficult Paris course last summer.

Many world-class runners have been invited to the Tokyo Marathon, including defending champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya, who clocked a race record 2:02:16 last year.

"I'm in excellent condition," said Yohei Ikeda, who ran the Berlin Marathon last September in 2:05:12, the second-fastest time in Japanese men's marathon history.

"I'll keep in mind that I'm competing against runners from around the world and try to finish high up the leaderboard."