japan running news

by DogsorCaravan.com Even after the sport came to a standstill for a year, Japan's Ruy Ueda  has continued his climb up the ranks. The Skyrunning World Championships kicked off July 9 in Catalunya, Spain, as part of the BUFF Mountain Festival. Going head to head with Europe's best, Ueda crowned the first day of the Championships by winning the vertical kilometer race. It was his first individual world title since being named the 2019 Syrunner World Series champion, and he aims to make it a double crown in Sunday's Sky Race. The vertical race at this year's World Championships climbs 1000 m over a 2.8 km course from town of Barruera. Immediately going to the front of the field of 33, Ueda had a 7-second lead by the 2.2 km checkpoint after 481 m of climb. He held his lead from there, crossing the finish line in 35:06 to claim the world title. In 2016 he was 10th on the same course in 36:27 at that year's World Championships. 32 seconds back in 2nd was Spain's Dani...

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 start...