On the evening of Friday, April 26, during the two-day event Mt. FUJI 100 held from April 26 (Fri) to 27 (Sat), 2024, Courtney Dauwalter (USA) and Guomin Deng (China) emerged victorious in the women's and men's divisions of the "FUJI100mi" race, respectively.

The "FUJI100mi" is a trail running race that started at midnight on April 26 (Fri) from Fujisan-Kodomono-Kuni (Fuji, Shizuoka) and finished at Fujisan-no-Meisui Stadium in Fuji Hokuroku Park. Guomin Deng completed the 166.6km course with a cumulative elevation gain of 7,039m through the mountains, forests, and towns at the foot of Mt. Fuji in 19 hours, 10 minutes, and 34 seconds, while Courtney Dauwalter finished in 19 hours, 21 minutes, and 22 seconds. Additionally, at the time of writing, Guidu Qin (China) secured 2nd place with a time of 19 hours, 20 minutes, and 52 seconds, and Ryo Murata (Japan) took 3rd place with a time of 20 hours, 27 minutes, and 14 seconds.

In the women's race, Courtney Dauwalter not only maintained her lead from the beginning but also overtook several male runners in the latter half of the race, ultimately achieving an astonishing 3rd place overall.

In the men's race, Guomin Deng and Guidu Qin ran together at the front in the first half. However, Deng arrived at F5 Oshino (113.0km) 20 minutes earlier, and from there, he continued to extend his lead over Qin.

Men's winner Guomin Deng reflected on his race, saying, "Today's race was not perfect, and there will be points to reflect on. Especially when crossing the three mountains at the end, it was very tough. But I am grateful that I was able to run to the end and win the race."

Guidu Qin, who finished second behind Deng, was attempting his first 100-mile race. Regarding being caught by Courtney Dauwalter with 20km remaining, he said, "Courtney is my senior in this sport. When she caught up to me, I had no energy left, but I thought I would try to stay with her until the end to learn from her. I think she could have passed me and finished, but she respected my pride and let me go ahead. I appreciate her consideration."

Courtney Dauwalter, who became the champion of this event for the second time following 2018, addressed the gathered crowd, saying, "I felt so lucky to be out there seeing the sunrise with Mount Fuji. It was absolutely stunning. I hope you all saw it as well. Generally I just felt like it was the best day to be out moving with my feet on an amazing course in a beautiful place with a wonderful community and that was what kept me pushing towards the finish line."

Ryo Murata, the top Japanese male runner who finished 3rd, humbly reflected on his performance, saying, "This time, there were strong runners, and my goal was to at least finish in the top 10 among this group. As I progressed through the course, I was able to gradually improve my position, but finishing 3rd overall and as the top Japanese runner was unexpected. Staying faithful to my plan until the end led to this success."

The approximately 2,400 runners participating in the "FUJI100mi" will aim to reach the finish line at Fujisan-no-Meisui Stadium, in Fuji Hokuroku Park, by the time limit of 21:00 on April 27 (Sat).

The "KAI70k" race, which covers the latter half of the "FUJI100mi" course with a distance of 69.4km and a cumulative elevation gain of 3,493m, will start shortly at midnight on April 27 (Sat) at Fujisan-no-Meisui Stadium.

FUJI100mi Result （ https://leaderboard.runnet.jp/?tri=02524_20240426_01 ）

(Men)
1 Guomin Deng (CHN) 19:10:34
2 Guidu Qin (CHN) 19:20:52
3 Ryo Murata (JPN) 20:27:14
4 Hayato Nishikata (JPN) 20:59:36
5 Alexandre Boucheix (FRA) 21:02:14
6 Takashi Doi (JPN) 21:26:12
7 Nagisa Itagaki (JPN) 21:41:47
8 Ho Chung Wong (HKG) 21:48:31
9 Tatsuya Saguchi (JPN) 21:57:46
10 Takamaru Kawasaki (JPN)

(Women)
1 Courtney Dauwalter (USA) 19:21:22