Ryōichi Sekiya

Ryoichi Sekiya

Ryōichi Sekiya (left) and Mami Kudo (right), winners of the 2009 SCUltraMarathon
Personal information
Born	(1967-02-12) February 12, 1967 Sagamihara, Kanagawa
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Sport
Country	Japan
Sport	marathon, ultramarathon

Ryōichi Sekiya (關家 良一, Sekiya Ryōichi, born 12 February 1967) is a Japanese ultramarathon and marathon runner from Sagamihara, Kanagawa. He is the current Asian record holder of the 24-hour run with the distance of 274.884 kilometres (170.805 mi), which he achieved in 2007 at Soochow International Ultra-Marathon.^[1] He is a four-time IAU 24 Hour World Championship winner, which makes him the athlete with the most wins in the event.^[2]

Other notable wins of Sekiya include eight wins at the IAU-endorsed Soochow International Ultra-Marathon held in Taipei. He first won the event in 2001, and won in seven consecutive years in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009,^[3] 2010,^[4] 2011,^[5] and 2012 (there was no event in 2006).^[6]

Sekiya won the 153 miles (246 km) Spartathlon Ultra Race in Greece in 2002 and 2009.

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Japan
2008	World Championships	Seoul, Korea	1st	24-hour run	273.366 kilometres (169.862 mi)
2007	World Championships	Drummondville, Canada	1st	24-hour run	263.562 kilometres (163.770 mi)
2006	World Championships	Taipei, Republic of China	1st	24-hour run	272.936 kilometres (169.595 mi)
2004	World Championships	Brno, Czech Republic	1st	24-hour run	269.085 kilometres (167.202 mi)
2003	World Championships	Uden, Netherlands	2nd	24-hour run	267.223 kilometres (166.045 mi)

References