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Ueda and Kinoshita Win Ultra Skyrunning National Titles


by Takuya Fujii

The Shiga Kogen Extreme Trail 2020 race took place in Nagano's Shiga Highlands this weekend. I was there working as the official timing director. The pro trail runner Takuya Yamada organizes this event, which winds through the mountains at around 2000 m above sea level. Over the course of the weekend four different race distances were held, the 54 km long course, the 32 km middle course, the 8 km short course, and a kids' race. The 54 km long course has a total climb of 2850 m.

Under the direction of the Japan Skyrunning Association (JSA), this year's event was held as the National Skyrunning Championships. The 54 km long course served as the "Ultra" skyrunning National Championships, with the 32 km middle course division designated the "Sky" skyrunning National Championships. The start and finish of each race was located at the Mt. Yokote Ski Resort. Timing mats were positioned on the ground there.

The 54 km long course division started before sunrise at 5:00 a.m. As a countermeasure against the coronavirus, the race began with a wave start made up of small groups starting in 3-minute intervals. Each participant had a timing chip attached to their bib number. It was really cold this year. At 5:00 a.m. I measured the temperature as -0.4˚C. The first snow of the year fell on Mt. Yokote the day before the race, and above 2000 m the course was covered with a thin layer of snow. 

The winner in the men's 54 km long course division was Ruy Ueda, who set a course record of 5:48:11 and was named Ultra division skyrunning national champion. Ueda was the 2019 skyrunning world champion, and he showed just how good he really is at this competition too. Post-race he was interviewed by Koji Otsuka from the race organizing committee. The women's winner and ultra national champion was Kumi Kinoshita, who won in 7:27:26.


In the 32 km middle course division, Masato Kamishohara won for the second year in a row in 3:25:41 and was named Sky division skyrunning national champion. Last year when he won Kamishohara was still in university and was a complete unknown. This year he won as a pro athlete. Ayaka Ueda was the women's 32 km middle course winner and Sky division skyrunning national champion in 4:07:14.

All finishers received a printed finisher's certificate with their official time printed on it. Our base of operations for timing was a tent next to the finish line. The 54 km long course division had a 15-hour cutoff time, and the entire event didn't wrap up until 8:30 p.m. The finisher's certificates were handwritten by a professional calligrapher, one of the event's highlights. The long course men's and women's winners received incredible wooden trophies carved by a master artist.

This race was organized by the Kitashinetsu Trail Freaks (KTF), a group led by Otsuka and Yamada. With 10 years' experience organizing trail running races the KTF are true professionals at what they do. They were forced to cancel a lot of races earlier in the year due to the coronavirus crisis, but since August they've been back at it, organizing trail events with proper precautionary measures. Their determination and belief in keeping the fires burning in the trail and skyrunning scenes is something really special. 

Since so many other races have canceled, entry numbers at this weekend's race were way up, going over 1000 participants for the first time. The weather was best in the event's history, and we were lucky to have a gorgeous view of the autumn colors that had turned out to welcome us. KTF's events are always the highest quality you could ask for, but from the pros aiming for a national title to the hobby runners, this year especially nobody could have gone home from Shiga Kogen dissatisfied. 

This race keeps growing and gaining a higher profile. Timing plays an important role in the quality of an event, which means an opportunity to make a contribution toward making it a better race than ever. I look forward to working with the organizers to make that happen.

Shiga Kogen Extreme Trail

Skyrunning National Championships
Shiga Highlands, Nagano, 18 Oct. 2020

1. Ruy Ueda (Columbia Montrail) - 5:48:11 - CR
2. Satoru Suga (unattached) - 6:04:34
3. Makoto Yajima (JSA) - 6:26:19

1. Kumi Kinoshita (Team Sky Tokyo) - 7:27:26
2. Aya Wakabayashi (unattached) - 7:40:10
3. Yukari Hoshino (JSA) - 7:45:08

1. Masato Kamishohars (SC Tanzawa Hadano) - 3:25:41
2. Miki Ushida (inov-8) - 3:32:11
3. Shoma Otagiri (unattached) - 3:32:41

1. Ayaka Ueda (Ridgeline Osaka) - 4:07:14
2. Honoka Akiyama (JSA) - 4:17:37
3. Takako Takamura (Skyninja) - 4:18:30

source article:
translated by Brett Larner

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