Skip to main content

Kiwi Wyatt Wins Fuji Mountain Race

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2012/07/28/kiji/K20120728003776590.html

translated and edited by Brett Larner

3676 runners took part in the two divisions of the 65th Fuji Mountain Race on July 27.  Making his Mt. Fuji debut, Jonathan Wyatt (39, New Zealand) won the summit course in a strong 2:33:59, with Mina Ogawa (37, Amino Vital AC) taking the women's race in 3:07:51 for her second-straight summit win.  Toru Koide (30, Salomon) and Maki Hagiwara (37) won the men's and women's Fifth Stage course wins in 1:25:42 and 1:45:17.

With a margin of 17 minutes over the runner-up, Wyatt's win was definitive.  A two-time Olympian for his native New Zealand with appearances in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic 5000 m and 2004 Athens Olympics marathon, Wyatt pulled clear into the lead after crossing into the purest mountain running section of the course after the Sixth Stage.  "My win today is one of the biggest honors in my long career," said a happy Wyatt.  "In New Zealand we are lucky to have a lot of good places to train."

Women's summit winner Ogawa was equally delighted with her title defense.  "I wanted to run under 3:10 no matter what," she said of her assertive performance in which she pushed the pace from the start and succeeded in meeting her sub-3:10 goal.  She was also well under her winning time from last year, 3:10:45.  A former corporate runner for the Hitachi team until 2000, Ogawa had plenty of credentials to make her the favorite.  "The Fuji Mountain Race is totally different from other races," she said with deep emotion.  "It just keeps going up and you can feel it getting harder and harder to advance to the next stage.  It has helped me to grow emotionally."

65th Fuji Mountain Race
Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, 7/27/12
click here for complete results

Summit Course - Men
1. Jonathan Wyatt (New Zealand) - 2:33:59
2. Sota Ogawa - 2:50:58
3. Satoshi Kato - 2:52:36
4. Turati Silvano (Italy) - 2:55:05
5. Takahito Kondo - 2:55:14

Summit Course - Women
1. Mina Ogawa - 3:07:51
2. Yoshimi Hoshino - 3:25:14
3. Keiko Nagasaka - 3:30:42
4. Kayo Shibuya - 3:40:33
5. Tomoko Oba - 3:46:26

Fifth Stage Course - Men
1. Toru Koide - 1:25:42
2. Jun Kaise - 1:26:20
3. Yasutomo Takenaka - 1:27:45

Fifth Stage Course - Women
1. Maki Hagiwara - 1:45:17
2. Mitsuko Hirose - 1:46:23
3. Satoko Uehara - 1:53:24

Comments

Anonymous said…
Turati Silvano is from SWITZERLAND!!!
Anonymous said…
It does not matter.

Most-Read This Week

Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 Hakone Ekiden

The Hakone Ekiden is the world's biggest road race, 2 days of road relay action with Japan's 20 best university teams racing 10 half marathon-scale legs from central Tokyo to the mountains east of Mount Fuji and back. The level just keeps going higher and higher , hitting the point this year where there are teams with 10-runner averages of 13:33.10 for 5000 m, 27:55.98 for 10000 m, and 1:01:20 for the half marathon. It's never been better, and with great weather in the forecast it's safe to say this could be one of the best races in Hakone's 102-year history, especially on Day One. If you've seen it then you know NTV's live broadcast is the best sports broadcast in the world, with the pre-race show kicking off at 7:00 a.m. Japan time on the 2nd and 3rd and the race starting at 8:00 a.m. sharp. If you've got a VPN you should be able to watch it on TVer starting at 7:50 a.m. on the 2nd , and again at 7:50 a.m. on the 3rd . There's even a 2-hour high...

Mashiko Breaks U20 5000 m NR - Weekend Track Roundup

Saturday's Kanakuri Memorial Meet in Kumamoto was the weekend's main event in Japanese track, but there were good results at the Nittai University Time Trials meet in Yokohama too. Emmanuel Maru (Toyota Boshoku) led the men's 5000 m A-heat at Kanakuri in 13:14.06, with Tomonori Yamaguchi (SGH) clocking the fastest Japanese time in 13:16.38 in his first race as a corporate leaguer. Waseda University duo Rui Suzuki and Yota Mashiko went 6-7 in 13:20.64 and 13:22.87, the 18-year-old Mashiko shaving 0.04 off the U20 NR. In 8th, Yamato Yoshii (Toyota) ran a PB of 13:23.92. 3000 mSC NR holder Ryuji Miura (Subaru) continued to struggle after a weak indoor season, finishing 18th of 20 finishers in 13:45.10. 19-year-old Festus Kimorwo (Kurosaki Harima) was under 13:20 in the B-heat too, winning in a 13:19.59 PB. 2 more collegiate men broke 13:30, Daichi Fujita (Chuo Univ.) 8th in 13:28.93 and Riki Koike (Soka Univ.) 9th in 13:29.09. The top 6 in the men's 800 m A-hea...