The Lake Saroma Ultramarathon is an annual 100 km and 50 km

Ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

foot road race held in June in the northeastern shore of

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

since 1987. It is an

IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...

-labeled official 100 km and 50 km race, and an official JAAF race, and an AIMS (Association of International Marathons)-certified course. Its 1994 event was Asia's first IAU (

International Association of Ultrarunners The International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) is the world governing body of ultra running, race events longer than the marathon distance of 42.2 km. It regulates and sanctions the World Championships for various ultramarathon distance ...

) 100 km World Championship, and its 20th event in 2005 was also held as the

100 km Road World Championship.

Course

The 100 km race starts at the Sports Center in the town of Yubetsu in the west of

Lake Saroma , also Saroma Lagoon, is a coastal lagoon (hence a body of brackish water) in Saroma, Kitami, and Yūbetsu Hokkaidō, Japan. It is located in Abashiri Quasi-National Park. By area, the lake is the third largest in Japan and the largest in Hokk ...

, takes a course around the

with two main peaks of around 40 meters and finishes at the Sports Center in the Town of

Tokoro is a small town, once was an independent administrative division located in Tokoro District, Abashiri Subprefecture (now Okhotsk Subprefecture), Hokkaido, Japan. On March 5, 2006, the division, along with the towns of Rubeshibe and Tanno (all f ...

. Men's 100km course record is 6:09:14 achieved in 2018 by

Nao Kazami is a Japanese ultramarathon and marathon runner. He is the current male 100 km run world record holder with a time of 6:09:14. He set the record on June 24, 2018, at the Lake Saroma Ultramarathon, an official World Athletics race held annually i ...

, and women's course record is 6:33:11 achieved in 2000 by

Tomoe Abe is a retired Japanese ultramarathon and marathon runner who won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 1993 World Championships with a time of 2:31:01. Her personal best time is 2:26:09, achieved when she won the 1994 Osaka Ladies' Marathon ...

. Both records are current IAU and

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

100 km road world records. Time limit to finish the 100 km race is 13 hours. Notable athletes who had run the race include

Erick Wainaina Erick Wainaina (born December 19, 1973, in Nyahururu) is a Kenyan marathon runner, who won an Olympic bronze medal in 1996 and a silver medal in 2000. He finished seventh in the 2004 Summer Olympics marathon in Athens, making him one of the fe ...

in 2010 and 2013. The 50 km race starts at the Town of Saroma, finishing at the same place as the 100 km race in the town of Tokoro. Time limit to finish the 50 km race is 8 hours. The course' scenic beauty was described as "one of the most beautiful Ultra courses" by

Malcolm Campbell Major Sir Malcolm Campbell (11 March 1885 – 31 December 1948) was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called ''Blue Bird'', including a 1 ...

, the founder and then president of

who visited Saroma in 1994 to announce the start of the race.

History

100km Results and Data

Course Records (also current 100 km Road world record) *Men 6:09:14, 2018,

, Japan *Ladies 6:33:11, 2000,

, Japan 2013 Temperature during the race: 11.0-23.7 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 68.9％ *Men # Nojo Hideo, Japan 6:37:16 # Takayoshi Shigemi, Japan 6:41:44 # Tsutomu Nagata, Japan 6:44:33 # Yoshiki Takada, Japan 6:49:53 #

, Kenya 6:55:09 *Ladies # Mai Fujisawa, Japan 8:10:39 # Tomoko Hara, Japan 8:23:33 # Hisayo Matsumoto, Japan 8:30:37 # Wakako Oyagi, Japan 8:31:13 # Mikiko Ota, Japan 8:33:10 2012 Temperature during the race : 9.5-14.1 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 75.6％ *Men 1 Yoshikazu Hara, Japan 6:33:32 *Ladies 1 Shiho Katayama, Japan 7:33:38 2011 Temperature during the race : 8.7-25.6 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 68.2％ *Men 1 Kiyokatsu Hasegawa, Japan 6:31:06 *Ladies 1 Naomi Ochiai, Japan 7:54:08 2010 Temperature during the race : 19.5-28.0 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 49.9％ *Men 1

, Kenya 6:39:52 *Ladies 1 Emi Matsushita, Japan 7:49:31 2009 Temperature during the race : 13.0-16.0 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 73.4％ *Men 1 Hideo Nojo, Japan 6:36:33 *Ladies 1 Emi Iwasaki, Japan 8:09:36 2008 Temperature during the race : 9.0-16.0 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 73.0％ *Men 1 Masakazu Takahashi, Japan 6:42:05 *Ladies 1 Hiroko Sho (or, Syou), Japan 7:38:04 2007 Temperature during the race : 11.0-17.5 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 72.1％ *Men 1 , Japan 6:29:57 *Ladies 1

Norimi Sakurai is a Japanese ultramarathon runner. Sakurai is the current women's 100 km Track world record holder, and the current women's 6H Track world record holder,> and 2007 female winner of IAU 24-Hour Run 100 km World Championship. She is ...

, Japan 7:16:23 2006 Temperature during the race : 12.0-23.5 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 67.8％ *Men 1 Yoshiaki Kobayashi, 6:49:15 *Ladies 1 Hiroko Sho (or, Syou), Japan 7:40:30 2005 Temperature during the race : 15.0-25.0 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 68.3％ *Men 1 Gregory Murzin, Russia 6:24:15 *Ladies 1 Hiroko Sho (or, Syou), Japan 7:53:41 2004 Temperature during the race : 15.0-26.0 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 62.5％ *Men 1 Tsutomu Sassa, Japan 6:23:00 *Ladies 1 Makiko Hotta, Japan 7:38:31 2003 Temperature during the race : 10.0-13.0 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 73.5％ *Men 1 Yoshiaki Kobayashi, Japan 6:38:06 *Ladies 1

, Japan 7:20:02 2002 Temperature during the race : 17.0-29.0 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 60.8％ *Men 1 Yasufumi Mikami, Japan 6:48:07 *Ladies 1 Makiko Hotta, Japan 7:30:23 2001 Temperature during the race : 17.5-29.8 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 47.0％ *Men 1 Yasufumi Mikami, Japan 6:38:50 *Ladies 1

, Japan 8:00:41 2000 Temperature during the race : 10.0-29.0 degree Celsius
Finishing rate : 57.5％ *Men 1 Yasufumi Mikami, Japan 6:27:13 *Ladies 1

, Japan 6:33:11 (Current World Record of Ladies' 100 km marathon) 1999 Temperature during the race : 9.3-14.5 degree Celsius *Men 1 Yasufumi Mikami, Japan 6:22:08 *Ladies 1 Akiko Sekiya, Japan 8:03:44 1998 Temperature during the race : 9.0-11.0 degree Celsius *Men 1

Takahiro Sunada is a Japanese ultramarathon and marathon runner born in Osaka. He was the World Athletics male world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific ...

, Japan 6:13:33 *Ladies 1 Masako Koyama, Japan 8:21:26 1997 *Men 1 Yasufumi Mikami, Japan 6:24:56 *Ladies 1 Reiko Hirosawa, Japan 8:19:48 1996 *Men 1 Patrick Macke, Great Britain 6:56:13 *Ladies 1 Noriko Kawaguchi, Japan 7:11:42 1995 *Men 1 Kiminari Kondo, Japan 6:26:23 *Ladies 1 Mary Morgan, Australia 7:49:40 1994 *Men 1 Alexei Wolgin, Russia 6:22:43 *Ladies 1 Walentina Schatjajewa, Russia 7:34:58 1993 *Men 1 Narihisa Kojima, Japan 6:43:14 *Ladies 1 Eiko Endo, Japan 8:22:25 1992 *Men 1 Narihisa Kojima, Japan 6:36:34 *Ladies 1 Eiko Endo, Japan 8:17:01 1991 *Men 1 Narihisa Kojima, Japan 6:37:44 *Ladies 1 Eiko Endo, Japan 8:28:23 1990 *Men 1 Toshiro Kashihara, Japan 6:52:33 *Ladies 1 Takako Suzuki, Japan 8:47:09 1989 *Men 1 Toshiro Kashihara, Japan 6:52:41 *Ladies 1 Takako Suzuki, Japan 8:37:13 1988 *Men 1 Toshiro Kashihara, Japan 7:06:35 *Ladies 1 Takako Suzuki, Japan 8:40:07 1987 *Men 1 Koji Inoue, Japan 6:52:14 *Ladies 1 Takako Suzuki, Japan 9:24:10 1986 (pre event) *Men 1 Masatoshi Tandai, Japan 7:49:17 *Ladies 1 Harumi Kajita, Japan 11:07:38

References

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External links

Lake Saroma Ultramarathon Official Website (Japanese)Saroma Ultramarathon Official Facebookparticipant's youtube video of 2013 Lake Saroma 100km Ultramarathon
Recurring sporting events established in 1987 Ultramarathons Marathons in Japan