Now running for the Sunbelx corporate team on an individual pro contract, Hibiki Yoshida (22) tuned up for his debut at the July 25 Fuji Mountain Race with a test run to the peak of Mount Fuji at 3776 m. Covering the distance from the Fifth Station to the summit, 6 km with 1520 m elevation gain on rough trails, in 2 hours, Yoshida said, "It was fun!" As a 4th-year at Soka University this past January Yoshida ran the highly competitive Second Stage at the 101st Hakone Ekiden, covering the 23.1 km net uphill leg in 1:05:43, the fastest time ever run by a Japanese athlete and equivalent to a 1:00:02 half marathon. After Hakone Yoshida said that post-graduation he planned to pursue a career in both traditional running and in trail running. His first big trail race will be the Fuji Mountain Race's 78th edition. The Fuji Mountain Race is divided into two divisions, a 15 km short course to the Fifth Station with 1480 m elevation gain and the 21 km long course to the summit c...
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