87-year-old doctor finishes southwest Japan’s 100-km walk 10 times in a row

BEPPU, Oita — An 87-year-old doctor from the Fukuoka Prefecture city of Yukuhashi completed a 100-kilometer walking challenge here for the 10th time, also making him the oldest participant to cross the finish line for the third year straight.

The 26th “Yukuhashi to Beppu 100-km walk” was held by organizers on Oct. 12 and 13, the course stretching from Yukuhashi to Matogahama Park in the city of Beppu, Oita Prefecture. Dr. Toshihide Komiya finished the course in 18 hours, 24 minutes and 30 seconds.

The iconic event was launched in 1999 by members of the Kokura East Rotary Club and is run by volunteers from the Fukuoka Prefecture city of Kitakyushu and the Keichiku region in eastern Fukuoka Prefecture. Despite a challenging course with many ups and downs and which requires participants to walk overnight, causing about 30 to 40% to drop out mid-challenge, the number of partakers has been steadily increasing, with around 4,000 joining this year from across Japan.

Komiya first participated in the event at the age of 74. He was encouraged to join by a patient undergoing dialysis treatment who suggested, “You should do it too, doctor.” He joined with a personal goal of finishing the walk 10 times, and has crossed the finishing line every year that it has been held since then.

Although Komiya achieved this goal in the recent event, he showed a hint of regret after finishing, saying, “I was an hour slower than last year.” Nonetheless, he finished about three hours faster than the average of participants in past years.

When asked about next year, Komiya smiled and said, “Once you get hooked, it’s hard to quit the 100K.”

(Japanese original by Masaki Matsumoto, Yukuhashi Resident Bureau)