Mt. Fuji Hill Climb 2026
From waking up to the start
・Waking up
At 2:00 AM, I woke up and took a walk to the convenience store. I drank hot coffee and did some practice swings and footwork with the table tennis racket I brought. After that, I soaked in the bath for a bit and prepared for departure, including attaching my race number.
・Breakfast
Just after 3:30 AM, I ate the breakfast I had bought at the convenience store. ・2 plain rice balls ・2 bean paste buns (from a pack of 4). After that, I headed to the venue.
・Arrival at the venue and warm-up
At 4:00 AM, I arrived at the venue and prepared my bike. I ate the remaining bean paste buns and then went for a warm-up. For the warm-up, I used my usual section, [Fujiyoshida I.C. West to Tainai Cave Entrance], to check my L2 intensity and 5x power.
・Meeting up and the incident
At 5:00 AM, I arrived at the meeting point with YKK-san, whom I met on the way. Soon after, Kinniku-san (Muscle Blogger Yu) and SST-san (Everyday SST) joined us. That's when the incident occurred. I happened to look at everyone's feet and noticed they were wearing something like ankle bands... 😨😨😨 I forgot my timing chip!!!
I hurriedly told SST-san that I had forgotten it and went to retrieve it at the National Tree Planting Festival Memorial Plaza. By the way, my Strava log from this time ranked 3rd. [National Tree Planting Festival Memorial Park Climb]
・Before the start
I rushed to attach the chip and took my position at the very back of the first start of the 3rd wave with SST-san. I met up with Platinum Train leader Sekki-san and the others for a strategy meeting. After finishing the final weight reduction, it was time to start!!
Race Report
・To the start line
The starting gun for the 3rd wave went off, and a large number of riders moved toward the start line. For some reason, the pace was incredibly slow on the climb right after leaving Hokuroku Park. One of my train teammates crashed, and I was worried about what would happen, but they recovered immediately. Then, we quickly realigned into our planned train order and headed toward the start line.
・From the timing line to the 1st Station lower parking lot
At first, Arabiki-san set the pace. It was just under 5 minutes at an intensity of over 5x. Chaen took over the intensity from Arabiki-san, and from here, the members began rotating at over 5x intensity for one minute each. Before long, the 1st Station lower parking lot came into view. The time was about 10 minutes. Is it about 20 to 30 seconds slow...?
・From the 1st Station lower parking lot to Jukaidai parking lot
From here, I aim for the Jukaidai parking lot and keep pedaling steadily.
1st Station: 15 minutes 42 seconds
On the way to the 2nd Station, I fill the gap that opened up to prevent a split in the team when a teammate could no longer take a turn at the front.
Then, a train led by Mr. Aoki, who is currently 1st in his age group for this tournament, caught up from behind and joined us in this section.
2nd Station: 24 minutes 43 seconds
Jukaidai Parking Lot: 28 minutes 22 seconds
Too slow... at this rate, I won't make it at all.
And after passing the Jukaidai parking lot, the situation changes significantly.
・Jukaidai P to Osawa P
On the way to the 3rd Station, Arabiki-san called out to me,
"This is tough, huh? Are you doing okay?"
Actually, at this moment, I felt like I could have pushed a little harder. But I didn't have the courage to go alone.
Just before reaching the 3rd Station, I caught up with Daichi-kun (who is featured in the 2022 Fuji Hill article ❤️) who was ahead.
3rd Station: 34 minutes 16 seconds
At this time, the order of rotation had become vague and we weren't working well together.
SST-san called out,
"Let's rotate, let's rotate."
Around the 38-minute mark, Arabiki-san and Aoki-san made a desperate push. They hadn't given up on Platinum yet.
I followed them too.
Chaen also joined in, and we took short turns at the front.
Osawa Parking Lot: 45 minutes 17 seconds
・Osawa P to Finish
After passing the Osawa parking lot, the lead group was significantly thinned out.
However, the pace increase pushed me to my limit all at once, and it was quite tough.
Around the 4th Station, Aoki-san increased the pace again. The lead changed from Aoki-san to Arabiki-san.
After that, Chaen, who was behind, was urged to take the lead but couldn't move forward and said,
"I'm sorry."
And in the middle of the mountain split, I got dropped from the group of Arabiki-san and Aoki-san.
Being alone on the flat section of Okuniwa is hell... Should I join the SST-san group behind me...
Just as I was thinking that, I saw the gold train of Suzinari-yokai-san ahead.
I mustered my last bit of strength and joined them around the straight climb of Okuniwa.
I rotated on the flats with Suzinari-yokai-san's train; since Chaen has a high absolute power value, I pulled at the front as much as possible.
After passing the last tunnel, the finish line was just a little further. While pedaling with all my might, I heard a familiar voice:
"Kazuhiro, do your best!"
There was no mistake. It was the voice of my mother, Chihiro.
I kept pedaling and reached the finish line.
Results and Summary
Time: 60 minutes 58 seconds
Age Group: 3rd place
This year's Fuji Hill, which I ran as part of a dream team, was a frustrating result that didn't reach my dream (Platinum) or my goal (1st in age group).
This result is everything, and the riding of Aoki-san and Arabiki-san that day was amazing.
I honestly accepted that with my current self, it would be the same no matter how many times I tried.
Since the 2025 Fuji Hill, my motivation for training had become routine, and I wasn't fired up.
However, thanks to being selected for the dream team, I was able to surpass my past self and achieve a personal best and a podium finish. I am honestly happy about this, and it is something I can be proud of for sharing my training and pushing myself.
One more thing, this year I succeeded in weight loss and physical condition management, which had been issues in previous years.
I think I will summarize my training and physical condition management on Note when I feel like it.
After the finish, I praised the efforts of everyone from the Otoga Pass practice group.
At first, I was riding the Ninose Pass alone.
Since that time, I never imagined I would be blessed with so many friends.
I believe that without Sumochi-san, everyone at Otoga Pass, Daichi-kun, and Koichi-san, the current Chaen would not exist.
Everyone, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Suzinari-yokai-san, who I joined on the final flat section. Because you had such a powerful ride with a small body, I instinctively felt I couldn't lose.
Thanks to that train, I was able to reach the finish line without fading on the final flat.
Congratulations on being the first woman to get a gold ring.
And to my mother, who gave me the strength to pedal at the very end, I had a feeling, but you really came.
Thank you!
Finally
To everyone who read this far, thank you very much!
I'm not yet clear on what my next goal will be, but I intend to keep training.
To be continued
