Nov 19 (Japan Times) - A man died Saturday after falling off a cliff while competing in a trail running race in Saitama Prefecture, police said.
The 54-year-old man from Tokyo was among 650 men and women taking part in the 100-km competition, which is part of the FTR100 & FT50 race in Chichibu and Hanno.
The race started at 5 a.m., but the organizers called the police at around 9:55 a.m. to request a rescue helicopter, which spotted the man lying on a mountain slope.
He was confirmed dead around 2½ hours later at a hospital.
The police quoted an eyewitness as saying the man lost his balance and fell about 100 meters from a cliff while on a trail leading to 1,294-meter Mount Omochi.
