Izu Trail Journey: crunch time for Veronika Vadovicova

The Izu Trail Journey to the south of Tokyo has been a decider in the Asia Trail Master Championship since 2017 and this year it could again make or break the chances of Veronika Vadovicova and Hisashi Kitamura in the context of the Asia Trail Master Championship. Vadovicova, the early season dominator, has returned from her native Slovakia in Eastern Europe to get the title. But to achieve that, she will need to be at her best here in the Japan SuperTrail and next week in TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival.

Due to the gigantic typhoon that struck the Izu Peninsula in October, this year’s race will deviate from the traditional course in a few parts. The total distance now will be 68km instead of 72km and elevation gain is also reduced to a still substantial 3300 hm.

The fact is that Veronika Vadovicova can pull of quite a stunt by winning this renowned Japanese race, often used in the domestic scene to determine the places on the national trail running team. If she is any way as fast as in spring, she stands a real chance against the Japanese elite such as Maki Tanaka and Kaori Asahara. Last year, France’s Carole Fuchs scored 6th place in this race and she will be back also - reportedly in better shape than twelve months ago, too. Fuchs is a mountaineer athlete, who on a good day can be outstanding in a trail race - remember CMU 2018.

Here it is important to note that only runners with minimum 1 ATM result in 2019 are eligible for more points in Izu Trail Journey. That means, Vadovicova doesn’t really need to worry about the Japanese elite and even Fuchs as most of them did not compete in ATM this season. One runner on the Izu start list who did is Canada’s Carrie Jane Stander. Recently crowned as a Grandmaster, Stander is 7th in the ATM Championship and another good result could still get her a top 5 placing by year’s end.

The men’s race will be illuminated by the traditional Japanese national team seekers such as Ko Ito, Katsuhiro Matsubara, Nobuya Tani, Shunsuke Okunomiya and Tomohiro Tsuji. From an ATM point of view, Hisashi Kitamura is the runner to watch. He needs a win of the ATM eligibles to retain his chances for the ATM Championship win in Taiping next weekend. A difficult ask and by the time he goes to the starting line on Sunday morning he will know the outcome of the Ultra Trail Panoramic in Thailand and the performance of title rival John Ellis there. Kitamura therefore cannot control his own fate, something he did so beautifully in The Punisher in Philippines last weekend. One contender he needs to watch out for is his compatriot Tomohiro Mizukoshi. The latter was faster than Kitamura in Izu a year ago, and himself engaged in a battle for the top five of the ATM Championship with Koi Grey and Sukrit Kaewyoun.

Another man to watch in Izu will be 2017 Asia Trail Master Champion Steven Ong. The Malaysian is clearly coming back to his best form after a full year of injury and other issues, and could be a serious contender, indeed. The weather forecast says not too cold, which also plays into the cards of the Southeast Asian runners.

We will be reporting live from Izu Trail Journey all day on Sunday via Facebook and Instagram.

Tomohiro Mizukoshi aims to consolidate his Top 5 placing in the ATM Championship in Izu

A year ago, Hisashi Kitamura beat Pablo Diago Gonzales for 4th place in the ATM Championship. Now he runs with the title on his mind, even when he has no control over John Ellis this weekend...

2017 ATM Champion Steven Ong will run Izu for the first time

Veronika Vadovicova: ATM title favourite but there’s injury worries