Nine Dragons Ultra: dream comes true for Japan’s Kazufumi Ose as two-day race comes down to a mere three minutes
- Two days of racing, 130km of running and more than 8,000m of elevation and it was only a few minutes that separated the top two men
It was a dream come true for Kazufumi Ose at the Nine Dragons Ultra race.
Two days of racing, 130-kilometres of running and over 8,000 metres of elevation came down to just three minutes between the top two men.
The Nine Dragons Ultra is divided into two races. On the first day participants run 50 miles (80.5km) and on the second day they run 50km. Kazufumi Ose was around nine minutes behind Julien Chorier after the 50-mile event but finished 12 minutes ahead on the 50km, handing him a total time of 17 hours 34 minutes and 28 seconds to Chorier‘s 17:38:19.
“It feels so good. It’s a dream come true,” Ose said.
Ose ran just the 50 miles two years ago and came second overall last year. “This year I wanted to be the ninth dragon,” he said of the title bestowed on the winner. “There are so many strong runners but I believe I can do it.”