The number of "self-indulgent 100-mile" events is increasing! If there is no competition, why not create one?
. There are more and more small-scale, minimalist conventions, aren't there? How do you see this movement?
Ibara:I built my first 100-mile race by myself. I thought, "If there is no 100-mile race in Japan, why not make one? At this point, I have run 58 100-mile races, 10 of which are the T.D.T. 100 (160 km along the Tama River), which I created myself. It is weird to think that I have already run 1,000 miles on that Tama River! (Laughs). I think the 100 miles I actually ran in the race was about half of it, and then I also did 100 miles on a treadmill and 400 laps of a 400-meter track. The reason why I did that is because I enjoyed running 100 miles, and I wondered if it would be fun in any way. It was also meant to be a human experiment, and I wanted it to be accessible to people who are going to do it, and I don't think you necessarily have to compete in a big race. If you have financial or time problems, you can do it on a treadmill, or on a track. That's the kind of message I wanted to convey. Races are fun to race and very safe to run. But as one's mountain ability grows, one may decide to create one's own course, and that kind of expansion is possible. That is why there are so many "self-organized 100-mile races" in Japan today. Even the name "self-organized 100-mile" has become popular among trail runners, and such a phrase did not exist 10 years ago.
Uchisaka:Apart from the trend of creating trail running competitions to revitalize towns, the origin of this style is that people who want to do trail running create their own races. . because of Corona, I can't run in the event, the event was canceled. That may have been the trigger, but so many races and events have been created, and I think that this is what trail running races should be about. To be honest, there is a race called UTMF (Ultra-Trail Mount Fuji), which is a round-the-clock race around Mt. Fuji. It is absurdly difficult to organize such a race. Every time, the course goes this way and that way. Now it is impossible to make a round-the-mountain race. I am a member of that group (laughs). But I think that the fact that there are now so many small races and events is a sign that we are getting back to what we were supposed to be doing.
On a world level, this is a real surprise, but UTMB, which is said to be the best in the world, has been bought by a Chinese company called Ironman, which is said to be the best sports business company in the world. . and UTMB is the final race. Roughly speaking, if you don't compete in a race under the umbrella or designated by UTMB, you are not eligible to go to Chamonix. . That's totally different from what we used to think of the trail running world, isn't it? What started out as an opportunity for people to run in the mountains as they pleased has turned into a business, the opposite of what it was. The UTMB, which organized several major overseas events and created the formula for calculating qualification points to participate in them, has overturned the table and started doing things differently. I don't know if this is good or bad in terms of promotion, but there is a big difference between what we think of the UTMB, which was said to be the world's top event, and the UTMB itself, which has turned the tables and started doing things differently.
Ibara:There is the oldest and most venerable race in the United States, The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run (Western States), and now that it has become part of the UTMB, the trail running community in the United States is buzzing. "For real? .
Uchisaka:If the way things are done are changed so much, people will say, "I'll never be able to do UTMB again," or some may even say, "I don't want to do this. . This is a big deal or a big problem.
Maybe there will be people who will do the "self-serving UTMB" (laughs).
Uchisaka:The UTMB was originally started by a small local group called the Chamonix Sports Club. It was started by a group of friends at a ski resort. It has grown and grown and grown.
Ibara:In fact, there is a famous race in the U.S. called the Hardrock 100 (Hardrock 100), which can only be entered with a chance of less than 11 TP10T. . There really is a race called the Softrock 100, where people say, "If we'll never be able to enter the race anyway, let's run the exact same course ourselves.
