Kawauchi wins 71K ultra in Japan, smashes course record

Video: 川内優輝 Yuki Kawauchiが4:41:55で71kmの部で優勝。大会記録の4:48:13（2002年山本恭規）を6分更新です。 #南相木村 #野辺山100km #Nobeyama100km #野辺山71km pic.twitter.com/aVYJNUBKvP

— Dogsorcaravan (@Dogsorcaravan) May 20, 2018

Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi, winner of this year’s Boston Marathon, won the Yatsugatake Nobeyama 71K ultramarathon in Nagano yesterday, taking more than six minutes off the course record in the process, and putting more than half an hour between himself and the second-place finisher. 

RELATED: Japan’s Kawauchi wins Boston marathon in spectacular upset

Kawauchi’s time was 4:41:55. 

According to Japan Running News, Kawauchi is training for the Stockholm marathon, which is June 2, and where he finished in sixth place last year.

The site also claims yesterday’s ultra was the longest race of Kawauchi’s career so far.

Kawauchi is famously unusual in his incorporation of “ultra long-distance jogging” (over-distance training at a slow pace) into his training, something few world-major elites do. Some believe it’s his secret weapon, though others are skeptical of its value in marathon training.

A week after his Boston win, Kawauchi competed in the Gifu Seiryu Half-Marathon in Japan, though his 14th-place finish would suggest that he approached it as something of a recovery run.