Hiroshima Ultra-Trail by UTMB®, live.

From the river into the mountains, and back to the Dome

The organiser sums the race up in one line: from the streets straight into the mountains, and back. Every course starts and ends in the middle of Hiroshima.

Hiroshima Ultra-Trail by UTMB is part of the UTMB World Series and runs from 9 to 11 April 2027 in Hiroshima, Japan. There are three races. The HIROSHIMA 100K starts at 05:00 on Saturday 10 April: 95 km with 5,600 m of climbing and a 29-hour limit. The HIROSHIMA 50K starts at 08:00 the same day: 49 km, 2,800 m and 13 hours 30 minutes. The HIROSHIMA 25K starts at 08:00 on Sunday 11 April: 25 km, 880 m and six hours. All three start at Hiroshima Gate Park, and the organiser lists all three as full, with a waitlist open.

What makes the course is the city’s geography. The routes follow the Ota River out of the centre, past the edge of town and into the ring of mountains that surrounds the Hiroshima delta. The 100K climbs to Mt. Shiraki, at almost 900 metres its highest point, and over Mt. Abu, on ridgelines, steep hands-on climbs and technical descents, with views over the delta’s six rivers and the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. Then comes a flat riverside return, and the 100K’s last strides run along the Peace Line, beneath the A-bomb Dome.

A course that leaves the city and comes back is easy to follow from the finish, with the right link. The runner shares their own Livebib broadcast, and family open it in a browser with no account and no app. They see the position on the course line, the distance covered and a finish estimate that updates as the race goes. Anything estimated is marked as estimated, and in forest valleys where the phone loses signal the position is carried forward along the course instead of freezing. The runner decides who gets the link.