A fixture on runners' schedule for 79 years, the Fuji Mountain Race took place July 24 in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi. 3521 runners from across the country and around the world took on the challenge of racing up Mt. Fuji. The event is divided into 2 distances, the Summit Course of 21 km with 3000 m of ascent, and the Fifth Stage Course of 15 km with 1480 m climb. The Summit Course turns steep after the Seventh Stage, with runners slipping and stumbling on the loose rock on the trail as they near the peak.
In the Summit Course race Ruy Ueda, 32, won for the second year in a row. Yuri Yoshizumi, 40, achieved an 8th-straight victory in the women's summit race. A local Fujiyoshida resident, post-race Yoshizumi said, "I mostly train on Mount Fuji too. All the local people cheering me on helped me to push harder." Takashi Mino won the men's title in the Fifth Stage Course, with Mirei Sugai taking the women's title.
79th Fuji Mountain Race
Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, 24 July 2026
Men's Summit Course
1. Ruy Ueda - 2:43:58
2. Taiga Yamaguchi - 2:46:41
3. Kei Kikushima - 2:54:56
4. Yuki Yamada - 3:03:56
5. Kensuke Yoshimura - 3:04:52
Women's Summit Course
1. Yuri Yoshizumi - 3:12:59
2. Mina Ogawa - 3:24:09
3. Rieko Koshi - 3:38:03
4. Kanako Edamoto - 3:38:19
5. Miyu Akiyama - 3:41:13
Men's Fifth Stage Course
1. Takashi Mino - 1:21:34
2. Takuya Saito - 1:25:59
3. Takuma Shimizu - 1:27:03
4. Keita Seguchi - 1:27:16
5. Fuminori Shikata - 1:27:26
Women's Fifth Stage Course
1. Mirei Sugai - 1:41:36
2. Yoshimi Tanaka - 1:43:21
3. Azusa Ohara - 1:49:00
4. Miu Kataoka - 1:50:08
5. Aiko Fujiyoshi - 1:55:46
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