Spanning three days beginning Friday, Apr. 22, the Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji returned this weekend after cancelations the last two years during the pandemic, with great weather across the course around the foot of Mt. Fuji through Shizuoka and Yamanashi prefectures. 1,808 people ran the UTMF 165 km long course, with another 489 in the KAI 69 km short course, all of them enjoying spectacular views of Mt. Fuji as they ran its trails. Among them were some of the country's best trail athletes, making for the first elite-level trail race in Japan in a long time.
Covering 157.9 km with 6388 km total elevation gain, the UTMF 165 km division race started at Fujisan Kodomonokuni park in Fuji, Shizuoka and finished at the Fujikyu Highlands amusement park in Yamanashi in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi. With a course change announced on Apr. 20 that cut out some of the hilliest sections and kept runners on shorter and flatter forest roads, 2019 4th-placer Masatoshi Obara took the lead in the early stages. But after leaving the U2 checkpoint at 43.2 km Obara slowed as he hit the true mountain trails.
Hirokazu Nishimura was quick to overtake him for the lead. After the U4 checkpoint at 65.6 km and the paved roads of the Fuji Panorama Line section, Nishimura moved into 1st near Narusawa Ice Cave and never looked back, reaching the finish in a total time of 18:15:32. It was his first Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji victory.
Dueling for 2nd were Takashi Doi and Hajime Mamba. Mamba overtook Doi at one point, but just before the U9 checkpoint at 142.4 km he took a wrong turn, giving Doi the chance to retake 2nd before Mamba could get back on course. Doi crossed the finish line 2nd in 18:45:45, Mamba a short distance back in 18:52:02. Former elite-level marathoners Tomonori Onitsuka and Seiji Kobayashi were 4th and 5th.
2018 women's 8th-placer Kimino Miyazaki was 19th overall in 22:14:15 to take the win in the women's race. After starting slow, Miyazaki picked up her pace aggressively after the U2 checkpoint and held 1st the rest of the way, running down male competitors one by one en route to victory. Shunko Yano ran conservatively over the 2nd half to take 2nd in 23:35:55, with Yukari Hoshino taking 3rd in 23:55:15 in her 8th UTMF appearance. Yukiko Sawada and Makiko Imada were 4th and 5th.
A new addition to the event this year, the KAI 69 km short course covered 69.4 km over the 2nd half of the UTMF 165 km course, with a total elevation gain of 3675 m. In the men's race Hiroki Kai and Yutaro Yokouchi battled head-to-head the entire way until the final climb up Mt. Shimo. Kai proved the stronger, taking the win in 7:32:00 as Yokouchi faded to 7:43:48 for 2nd. 3rd-placer Miki Ushida was close behind in 7:53:13, with Kazuhisa Muneishi 4th and Shintaro Hirasawa 5th.
National team member Yuri Yoshizumi beat both Muneishi and Hirasawa to cross the finish line 4th, winning the women's race in an outstanding 8:12:29. 2nd-place woman Maria Nakazono was over 2 hours behind in 10:13:13, 3rd-placer Natsumi Yamauchi another 35 minutes back in 10:48:39. Nami Ishihara and Yukari Tanaka took 4th and 5th.
translated by Brett Larner
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