FROM EARTHQUAKE DELAY TO WORLD STAGE: THE HISTORY OF MT. FUJI 100
Origins
Mt. Fuji 100 history begins with a delay. The inaugural edition was never supposed to happen when it did. Tsuyoshi Kaburaki, a professional trail runner and the race's president, had planned to launch the event in 2011. The Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11 of that year, causing widespread destruction across the northeast of the country. Kaburaki postponed the race and launched the first edition in 2012 under the name Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji.
The course encircles Japan's most recognizable mountain, covering 166.6 kilometers and 7,038 meters of cumulative elevation gain through Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. Runners navigate mountain trails, volcanic terrain, and dense forests at the base of Mount Fuji, completing a full circumnavigation within a 44.5-hour time limit. The race runs alongside two companion events, the KAI 70K and the ASUMI 40K, forming a full race weekend.
The Mountain
Mount Fuji stands 3,776 meters above sea level and has been considered a sacred site in Japan for more than a millennium. In Shinto tradition, the mountain is identified with the goddess Konohanasakuya-hime, and climbing its slopes has long been treated as an act of pilgrimage. Eight major shrines were built around the mountain's base, and ascent routes were formalized as religious paths connecting lowland villages to the summit. In June 2013 — one year after the race's inaugural edition — UNESCO inscribed the mountain as a World Cultural Heritage Site under the designation "Fujisan, Sacred Place and Source of Artistic Inspiration," recognizing 25 specific sites across the landscape.
The race course passes through much of this inscribed landscape. Runners who circle the mountain at night encounter the same terrain that pilgrims have crossed for centuries. The course concept — a full circumnavigation at the foot of Japan's most recognizable landform — is inseparable from that cultural weight.
The Early Editions
Julien Chorier of France won the inaugural 2012 men's race, with Spain's Nerea Martinez Urruzola taking the women's title. The field was internationally competitive from the first edition, drawing elite names from Europe and the United States alongside a strong domestic contingent.
The 2013 edition produced the first Japanese men's winner. Yoshikazu Hara won in 19:38, becoming the first Japanese man to take the title at his country's flagship mountain race. Krissy Moehl of the United States won the women's race that year.
François D'Haene of France, who would go on to win the UTMB in Chamonix four times, took the men's crown in 2014. Núria Picas of Spain won the women's title the same year. Xavier Thévenard, another French multiple UTMB champion, and Andreu Simón of Spain both appeared in early results, establishing the race as a destination for Europe's top trail runners.
The 2015 edition was won by Gediminas Grinius of Lithuania, with Spain's Uxue Fraile taking the women's title. The race had by that point moved away from a purely French and Spanish podium, with runners from across Europe and North America establishing themselves in the results.
Dylan Bowman of the United States won the men's race in 2016 and again in 2018, becoming the first two-time men's champion. His back-to-back victories coincided with a period in which American runners were moving beyond the domestic ultra circuit to compete consistently at major international races. Fernanda Maciel of Brazil and Krissy Moehl of the United States were among the women's podium regulars in the early years.
The Dauwalter Breakthrough
Courtney Dauwalter first competed at Mt. Fuji 100 in 2018, the year of Bowman's second men's victory. She won the women's race in 23:57:48, becoming the first woman to finish under 24 hours. She placed 16th overall, finishing ahead of the majority of the men's field. That performance, at a major international 100-mile race on a technically demanding course, drew wide attention.
Dauwalter did not return for several years. When she ran again in 2024, she won the women's title for the second time and set the course record at 19:21:22. She finished third overall, behind men's winner Guomin Deng of China and runner-up Guidu Qin, also of China. Her 2024 finish was nearly four and a half hours faster than her 2018 time.
The women's course record of 19:21:22 placed the fastest women's time within about 40 minutes of the men's record of 18:15:32, set by Hirokazu Nishimura in 2022. That gap is among the smallest at any 100-mile race in the world and reflects the particular demands of the Mt. Fuji 100 course.
Disruption and Domestic Breakthrough
The 2019 edition required course modifications due to severe weather conditions that made portions of the trail unsafe. Race organizers shortened the route rather than cancel. In 2020 and 2021, the race was cancelled entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ending a run of consecutive editions.
The event returned in 2022. Hirokazu Nishimura of Japan won the men's race in 18:15:32, setting the course record and becoming the first Japanese man to win his country's flagship ultramarathon. His victory demonstrated that domestic runners could compete with and beat the European and North American elites who had dominated the early editions.
Nishimura's record of 18:15:32 remained the standard through 2024. In 2025, the course was measured at a slightly different distance of 168.6 kilometers, and the reported winning time of 17:48:40 cannot be directly compared to the 2022 record without formal resolution from organizers and ITRA.
The Chinese Running Rise
In 2024, Guomin Deng of China won the men's race, with compatriot Guidu Qin in second. The Chinese sweep of the top two men's positions reflected a broader trend in trail running: Chinese athletes have moved from occasional podium finishers to consistent frontrunners at major international races across the Asia-Pacific region. Domestic trail racing infrastructure and access to international competition have produced a generation capable of winning at the highest level.
The women's 2025 race produced a winner from Hong Kong for the first time. Manyee Cheung won the title, continuing a pattern of emerging Asian talent at a race once defined by European and North American dominance.
Rebrand and Global Integration
For the 2024 edition, the race changed its name from Ultra-Trail Mt. Fuji to Mt. Fuji 100. The rebranding aligned the event with the international convention of naming 100-mile races by distance. The course concept, a circumnavigation of the mountain, remained unchanged.
For its 2024 edition, Mt. Fuji 100 left the UTMB World Series and joined the World Trail Majors, a 10-race international circuit launched in November 2023. The World Trail Majors does not require point accumulation for entry — runners can enter any event directly. The 2025 edition drew 2,327 finishers from 45 countries.
The World Trail Majors Circuit
The World Trail Majors brings together races across multiple continents, distinguished from the UTMB World Series by its open-entry structure. Rather than accumulating qualifying points to earn a start, athletes can register for any WTM event independently, subject to minimum experience requirements at each race. Only a runner's two best results across the circuit count toward the annual ranking, which prevents the series from rewarding volume over performance.
The circuit includes events spanning North America, Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific region. For 2025, the series expanded its geographic reach further into the Asia-Pacific region where Mt. Fuji 100 already sits as the anchor race.
Entry and Registration
Entry to Mt. Fuji 100 is managed through a lottery system. Registration for the 100-mile distance requires proof of completion of at least one race worth four or more ITRA points within the two years preceding the entry window. When applications exceed capacity — which they do consistently — participants are selected by draw.
The competitive entry process reflects both the race's international profile and the finite capacity of a course that crosses protected UNESCO landscape, passes through multiple prefectures, and requires coordination with local authorities across a 44.5-hour window.
The Course
The terrain at Mt. Fuji 100 differs from most major 100-mile races in both character and composition. The race starts at midnight from Fujisan Kodomo no Kuni in Fuji City, Shizuoka Prefecture, moving northward and westward around the mountain's base before finishing at Fuji Hokuroku Park in Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture. The midnight start means the first significant sections of the course are run in darkness, with the mountain's silhouette absent until daylight arrives.
Runners pass through dense forests, cross narrow mountain trails, and descend volcanic staircases cut into the hillsides. The course winds through the Fuji Five Lakes region — the chain of lakes formed by ancient lava flows that dammed river valleys on the mountain's northern and western flanks. Kawaguchiko, Yamanakako, Motosuko, and Saiko each appear at different points in the route, offering brief sections of relative flatness before the trail returns to climbing.
Among the most distinctive sections is the passage through Aokigahara, the dense forest at the western base of the mountain that grew over hardened lava fields from a tenth-century eruption. The footing in Aokigahara is irregular and root-entangled, with lava rock breaking through the forest floor at unpredictable intervals. Navigation demands concentration even for experienced trail runners.
The elevation gain is distributed across the full circumference of the mountain, with repeated ascents and descents that compound across the distance. Approximately 70 percent of the course runs on trail and singletrack, with the remaining 30 percent on paved roads through towns and forested areas.
The 44.5-hour time limit is longer than most 100-mile events. That reflects the technical nature of the terrain and the difficulty of moving efficiently across a course that does not reward flat-road running. Even elite runners take 18 to 19 hours. For the majority of the field, the challenge is managing accumulating fatigue across terrain that offers few sections of genuine recovery.
The course has been revised periodically. The 2025 edition ran 168.6 kilometers with 6,254 meters of elevation gain, compared to the standard 166.6 kilometers and 7,038 meters. Such adjustments reflect ongoing work by organizers to maintain safety and fairness on a course that crosses multiple prefectures.
The 2026 Edition
The 2026 edition of Mt. Fuji 100 is scheduled for April 24. It will be the 13th running of the race under one name or another. Entries sold out well in advance, continuing a trend of international demand that has characterized the race since its early editions.
Mt. Fuji 100 history spans a race that has grown from a postponed debut in 2012 to a globally recognized qualifier in less than 15 years. The course concept has never changed: runners circle Japan's most famous mountain on the Mt. Fuji 100 course and return to where they started. The record for doing it stands at 18:15:32 for men and 19:21:22 for women.