The end of the year in the Asia Trail Master series means it’s time for Izu Trail Journey, one of the most prestigious trail racing competitions in Japan and also one of the most beautiful. This Sunday, 1800 people will take the start in the seaside town of Matsuzaki and run 70km across the Izu peninsula towards spa town Shuzenji, in the vicinity of bigger city Mishima - the gateway to Yokohama and Tokyo. This year’s edition is again a special one for Japanese ‘elite runners’ as Izu is marked as a qualifier for the national team that will be sent to the world championships of trail running in Spain next year. It is of course also one of currently three points races in Japan for the annual Asia Trail Master Championship ranking as well, which is our qualifying tool for the ATM Championship Final in 2025. Brief, the trails will be on fire this Sunday as there is a lot of great competitive talent again , led by last year’s winner Hirokazu Nishimura and China’s top talent and ‘guest star’ Xiang Fuzhao.

With such a densely competitive scene in Japan, it is never easy to win or even podium in Izu. Nishimura may have won the race already twice before, but if he is just a few percentages off pace compared to last year he may struggle to even make top five. Saturo Geya, Yuya Kawasaki, Koken Ogasawara, Onitisuka Tomonori, Hiroki Takashima, Katsuya Ishii are just another handful of runners who may just as well win this weekend. And what about our vice-ATM Champion Hisashi KItamura, who had a career best sixth place in Izu last year and seems to be running faster and smarter than ever before. After his great come back at the end of Borneo TMBT, finishing just a couple of minutes behind winner Jeff Campbell, Kitamura stayed in Japan and managed to improve his PB on the road marathon to 2:29. By being back in Tokyo, it has perhaps become a little more quiet about the Karate Kit on these ATM pages, but we will not be surprised if on Sunday he scores a top five, or even higher. Yuta Matsuyama, recently winner of Luang Prabang Trail in Laos, and an ATM Finalist the past two seasons is also on the start list. He has been in the top 20 already here at Izu. Let’s also keep an eye on Australia’s Billy Curtis, Hong Kong runners such as Yu Hin Cho and Yeung Ka Lun, and SIngaporean Chester Cheong.

In the women’s race, Xiang Fuzhao is the logical top favourite. The Chinese runner can rightfully claim to be among the world’s best trail runners. It will be interesting to see how fast she runs Izu in comparison with last year’s winner Eszter Csillag and 2019 winner Veronika Vadovicova. Of course, no year is exactly the same and apart from the weather things would also be very different if everyone was competing in the same race. Besides, there is another strong Chinese runner on the start list, too: Wen Fangyuan. Let’s see if any of the local women can make a fist against these two.

ATM will be broadcasting live from Izu Trail Journey from the start, with regular livestreams and video updates throughout the day on our facebook and youtube channels first and foremost. Remember Japan is at least one hour ahead of most other Asian countries, the race starts at 6 am local Japanese time.

Nishimura and Xiang Fuzhao headline stellar cast at Izu Trail Journey