The North Face 100 - Tsuyoshi Kaburaki Defended His Title

Press Release / 18.05.2010

With his arms opened, Tsuyoshi Kaburaki sprinted to the finishing line like a glider and enjoyed the cheers from the audience. When he crossed the finishing line, he raised his arm and shouted excitedly. This happened at the 100km finishing point of The North Face 100® 2010 Beijing International Endurance Challenge Run on May 8. Finally, the Japanese runner Tsuyoshi Kaburaki defended his title successfully with a time of 8 hours 48 minutes 10 seconds. Zhang Huiji won the champion of the female group with a time of 11 hours 21 minutes 27 seconds. Jia Xiaojing is the champion of the 50km male group, and Liu Junyan is the champion of the female group. Pan Zihui and Zhang Lihong are the champions for the 10km male and female groups respectively.

The host held a reception for the runners in an antique tea house of a hotel near the 100km starting point the day before the race. Then the runner representative climbed up the Great Wall. One year later, the Japanese runner Tsuyoshi Kaburaki who defended his title in the 100km male group, was filled with strong emotions and said, “I came to the Great Wall at this time last year, and got the champion one day later. This year, I climb up the Great Wall at Juyongguan Pass again. I hope to get a good result tomorrow.”

Tsuyoshi realized his wish yesterday. He didn’t lead other runners at the beginning of the race, but adopted the same tactics as he did last year, choosing to run at full strength for the second half of the race. Tsuyoshi and other Chinese runners always led others in the first 50km. When it came to 70km, he started to lead other runners and showed his outstanding strength for the second half. After that he was always in the leading position. When he reached the Ming Tombs Reservoir Platform, he opened his arms and enjoyed applause from the audience. When he crossed the line, the narrator on the site shouted to him, “you are the real king!”. Tsuyoshi smiled to the audience and made a “V” gesture to give his regards, and his wife hugged him.