Mount Fuji was witness to the fourth Gran Canaria World Trail Majors Series race, where 3400 runners from all over the world competed in two races of 69 and 166 km, to achieve the glory of a finish in one of the most iconic races in trail running. The concentration of high-quality athletes was evident long before the start and the live streaming allowed us to follow the racing from all corners of the world, marvelling at the beauty and challenge of this race in such a spectacular setting. And Courtney Dauwalter made history again.
Mt.FUJI 100 2024: An unforgettable race
The return to normality after the COVID pandemic with the return of international runners, the high level of competition and the conditions on the course made the 2024 edition of Mt.FUJI 100 an unforgettable one. The main race, which gave points scoring to the World Trail Majors Series, is the 166.6 km race with 7038 m of elevation. Fast tracks and steep technical trails are on the menu handed to the runners. A midnight start, with four waves to avoid congestion, a 45 hour time limit, this tenth edition was run in fresh temperatures during the night, quite warm along the day, mostly sunny and leaders had no rain, it was expected for later.
The race is mainly on forest paths and tracks, travelling alongside crystal clear lakes, there are technical steep climbs and descents mixed in with good, runnable trails. One of the forests that the race travels through, the Aokigahara, was formed after a volcanic eruption in the year 864, and with Japan’s tradition of nature conservation it can be said that the race runs through what is a practically untouched forest more than a thousand years.
Courtney being Courtney
In 2023, Courtney Dauwalter (USA, Salomon) was crowned with the unofficial title of greatest trail runner of all time by winning Western States 100 Endurance Run, Hardrock Endurance Run and UTMB. This year (so far), she has competed in two major ultras, The North Face Trangrancanaria and Mt.FUJI 100, both Gran Canaria World Trail Majors, with the same result, victory.
Courtney’s race was just as we are used to: in the front from the start and never looking back. The initial pace is always deliberate and from there she manages the gaps with the chasers, who usually watch her race from a considerable distance. This time the race was sometimes for the overall win. Could she make history (again)?
With absolute domination of the hundred mile distance, excellent form that never seems to wane, selecting a few big targets, the strategy continues to work for Courtney. It was thrilling watching her advancing for the overall ranking, maybe fifth, wow, fourth, could she podium? Courtney Dauwalter has won Mt.FUJI 100 with a time of 19:21:22 proving once again that she is in another league. She has been third overall!
Knowing that Gran Canaria World Trail Majors Series will score the two best results, can it be said that she has already won the series? No. Another runner can win 2 races and then the tie-breaker is the ITRA algorithm. She hasn’t won it, but it is highly probable that she has, although confirmation will have to wait a while. It would be an honour for this new series made up of some of the best trail running races in the world to have the greatest of all time as its first champion.
With this result Courtney Dauwalter becomes the first woman to win Mt.FUJI 100 twice adds his name to the exceptional list of Xavier Thevenard, François D’Haene, Julien Chorier and Dylan Bowman.
If the victory was just another Courtney show, the podium places are hotly disputed between Yukari Seimiya (Japan) and Yumi Hosokawa (Japan). When we write this communication they are in their way to the finish line.
China marks the pace
If for the women’s race the bets were rightly placed on Courtney, in the men’s race it was much more open. A group of runners took the front at a strong pace at the start and was slowly reduced as the challengers fell away, as the race progressed with a solid fron trio of Guomin Deng (China, The North Face), Yuya Kawasaki (Japón, Goldwin) and Guidu Qin (China, Outopia). Around top 10 were both Anthony Lee (USA, Topo) and Alexandre Boucheix Casquette Verte-Green Cap (France, Salomon).
As the kilometres and elevation took their toll on the runners it became clearer that Deng and Qin were taking distance and after some good sections of Alexandre he later moved back in favour of Ryo Murata (Japan, Answer4) and Hayato Nishikata (Japan, Hamamatsu Umashika).
The final outcome was clear when at the Fujisan No Meisui stadium in the city of Fujiyoshida, the epicentre of the race, Guomin Deng came through as the winner in a time of 19:10:34, followed by Guidu Qin who was only 10 minutes behind after 166 km of racing. Third overall we have seen was Courtney but third men, the Japanese Ryo Murata.
Full results and streaming
Mt.FUJI 100(100mi): Full Results
You can relive the streaming on YouTube’s World Trail Majors channel here: start, last second half.
