Road to Dements: Ueda Skyrace®

4 de May de 2025

Continuing with the Asian races, the Skyrunner® World Series returned to the Land of the Rising Sun — Japan — a country that already hosted a race in the circuit back in 2019.

The Japanese Alps, in Nagano Prefecture, specifically in Ueda, were the setting for the spectacular Ueda Skyrace®, where the mountains hold a unique beauty and charm. As the homepage of their website states: The Home of Skyrunning in Japan. What better place for the seventh stop of the World Series?

It was a weekend full of races: Saturday featured vertical events in three categories, and on Sunday, three distances were contested:

19 km with +/- 2050 m
3 km with +/- 300 m
And the main event, the Skyrace®, with 26 km and +/- 3050 m on extremely technical terrain, featuring vertical climbs and dizzying descents.

The entire event was marked by the presence of a large local crowd, offering unwavering support to every athlete — especially the Japanese runners. It was absolutely incredible!

The favorites didn’t disappoint. It was a Japanese sweep, with Takako Nakamura and Ruy Ueda dominating the race from start to finish, leaving no chance for their rivals.

Carrera masculina

Ruy Ueda (JPN / Team Ruy) no sorprendió con su estrategia: al igual que hizo en Dements 2024, salió a fuego desde el primer segundo. Esta vez sí demostró ser el más fuerte del fin de semana, ya que también ganó el kilómetro vertical del sábado. Lideró la carrera de principio a fin, sin que el empuje del también japonés, Fuji Tsubasa (Nnormal) fuera suficiente.

Dominio absoluto del campeón de las series mundiales de 2019, cruzando la meta en 03:33:12, con Tsubasa a unos 20 minutos y el alemán Marcel Hoche (Adidas Terrex) completando el podio.

Women’s Race

Takako Nakamura continued the Japanese dominance by also leading the women’s race from the very start. She flew over the rugged ridgelines and technical sections with outstanding skill, finishing in 04:19:55.

Iris Pessey (FRA / Scott) ran a smart, strategic race to secure second place and continue adding points after her victory the previous weekend in Penang.

Suzuha Kuzuda (JPN / Sky Kyoto) fought hard to take the final podium spot, holding off a strong late charge from U23 athlete Nikola Matkova.

The experience of the Japanese runners on this course — having raced it multiple times in recent years — clearly gave them an advantage they knew how to use.

After this race, Iris Pessey it’s the first woman to qualify for the Skymaster, having already finished four races, now she oly has to imporove her positions to increase her overall points.

U23 Highlights

The Ueda Skyrace® also counted towards the Esteban Olivero Trophy, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see some U23 athletes qualify for the absolute Skymasters in Eslida/Aín — possibly even finishing in the top 10. Here were the top results:

1st: Nikola Matkova (Slovakia, based in Lleida) – 4th overall
1st: Benjamin Townsend (USA) – 12th overall
2nd: Rachel Hebaus (USA) – 10th overall

Next Stop: Corendon Tahtali Run to Sky

Still in Asia, but this time by the Mediterranean, we arrive in Turkey for the Corendon Tahtali Run to Sky.

The race moves to Kemer, in the Antalya region, starting from the beaches of Çıralı and climbing all the way to the summit of the impressive Tahtalı Dağı, at 2,365 meters above sea level.

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