Rui Ueda

About

Rui Ueda (上田瑠偉) was born on 3 October 1993 in Ōmachi-shi, Nagano Prefecture, and is Japan's greatest-ever skyrunner and mountain runner. A graduate of Saku Nagasei High School's prestigious ekiden programme, he joined Waseda University's track and field club and was later scouted by Columbia Sportswear after a strong 100K trail race. He claimed the 2019 Skyrunner World Series overall title — the first Japanese runner ever to win the series — with victories at the Livigno SkyMarathon, Mt. Awa Skyrace, and SkyMasters finals. In 2021 he added the Skyrunning World Championship Vertical Kilometer gold in Lleida, Spain. He also holds a Guinness World Record for the fastest run of all four Mt. Fuji trails (57 km, 6,772 m gain) in 9:55:41, and boasts 50 domestic wins and 8 international victories across his career.

Notable Wins

• — Skyrunner World Series overall 2019
• — Skyrunning World Championship VK 2021
• — Mt. Fuji Four Trails Guinness World Record