The iconic Izu Trail Journey event traversing the peninsula south of Tokyo is on the 2020 programme for Sunday, 13 December. The Japan SuperTrail in the Asia Trail Master Championship returns to the original 72km course after the typhoon-induced reroutes of last year. Fans of Izu Trail Journey will have wondered already why the registrations for the usually sold-out event have not yet been opened. Something that normally is done now in the first week of June.

Mr Tatsuo Chiba, co-event director of ITJ, confirmed to us that the registrations are postponed to 1 September, obviously also as a consequence of the corona pandemic. The situation in Japan and particularly the Tokyo and Izu area has improved a lot and restrictions are gradually being lifted. However, it is considered wiser to wait another three months, so both the event organisers and the runners can get a clearer picture of what to expect for this year’s edition. Even when still more than half a year from us now, it is likely that some special conditions or restrictions will be introduced for participation in the Izu Trail Journey 2020.

On a more positive note, in an attempt to revive the Japanese tourism industry there has been official talk of reduced pricing for transport and accommodation for travellers coming to the country later in the year.

More news on Izu Trail Journey in any case at the end of August.

Some of the ATM protagonists are always invited to come on stage during the press conference of ITJ

Veronika Vadovicova pulled off quite a stunt last year by winning the women’s race outright, despite not being 100% fit

Hisashi Kitamura was first of the ATM Championship contenders and was delighted with his result

A very familiar Japanese elite runner for many years: Shunsuke Okunomiya

Echigo Country Trail in Nagaoka, Niigata, Japan unfortunately has to throw in the towel for this season. The event was scheduled for the weekend of 20/21 June as usual, but in the light of the corona situation it cannot be held on government orders, as announced officially today by the event organisation.

This is no postponement, but a cancellation. The event will return on the programme in 2021. 

Echigo is one of the more colourful events on the calendar, which also in Japan itself has grown in popularity over the years. The area of Oguni and Nagaoka is pre-alpine and may be devoid of high peaks, but the green countryside is hilly enough for a challenging run. What makes Echigo especially nice, though, is the heart-warming support of all the villages and its inhabitants along the course. These are mainly elderly people, however, and as we all know they make up the most vulnerable population group in times of corona today.

In terms of the Asia Trail Master Championship, this is the third event cancellation so far. We fear there may be more to come. How this will affect this year's Championship and Grandmaster Quest remains hard to say at this moment, as we wait and see how the situation in various countries evolves in the next weeks and months.

We’ll have to wait one more year before we can witness a new start of this colourful race in Niigata

Echigo Country Trail has become a classic event in our Asia Trail Master Championship series as it has been a points race since 2016. The colourful 53km race in the Oguni Forest Park outside Nagaoka in Niigata has also grown in the Japanese trail scene itself with over one thousand participants in the last two seasons. The 2020 edition will build onto the success of the past five years and is set for its traditional weekend on 20/21 June.

Echigo Country Trail will, naturally, appeal to the faster trail runner, but sometimes those also get a small shock during the race. The course is not as easy as it may look on paper. Some of the forest climbs are very steep and even have ropes for those who need. The elevation profile is well-balanced with the final big bump coming after km 41.

The event is known for the enthusiastic support it receives from the local community around Nagaoka. For those coming from outside the country, Echigo offers a fine glimpse of rural life in Japan. This is emphasised when you stay in the traditional guesthouses or join the communal bathhouse. A welcoming show in the local town hall on Saturday afternoon is another feature participants have come to appreciate a lot. As a result, the opening ceremony now has a separate registration process that will be launched in May. The reason: there’s just too many runners now who join Echigo. This comes highly recommended and we will remind runners of this add-on come May.

To get to the Echigo Country Trail, you need to make your way to Tokyo or to Niigata directly. A few countries in Asia have direct flights to Niigata. Otherwise, it’s easy from Tokyo as well. Take the shinkansen to Nagaoka. There you could book accommodation, too. Shuttle services are foreseen between Nagaoka and the event venue at the Oguni Park.

New in 2020 is also that after five years, Hiroaki Matsunaga has left Echigo and no other than Yuta Matsuyama, who won Ultra Trail Chiang Mai in Thailand last August and has run Echigo several times himself, is now the new race director of the event.

The race registration is now open. Note that only the 53km is valid for ATM Championship points.

Yuta Matsuyama, winner of UT Chiang Mai last year, is the new race director of Echigo Country Trail

John Ellis winning the ATM title in Thailand on Saturday seems to have inspired several other runners to excel in Japan during Sunday’s classic Izu Trail Journey. Veronika Vadovicova took an unprecedented victory as a non-Japanese athlete on the 68km course from Matsuzaki to Shuzenji Onsen Town in a time of just over 7 hours, cementing her position as the leading candidate for the women’s Asia Trail Master title to be decided at the TNF Malaysia Mountain Trail Festival next weekend. Hisashi Kitamura adjusted his mindset timely, switched goals and succeeded in scoring a Top 10 placing in the men’s race - a feat no man directly competing in the ATM Championship had achieved previously.

Two months ago one of the country’s biggest typhoons of the last decade swept through the Izu Peninsula and destroyed a lot of the nature and hiking trails in the process. To the extent that afterwards, Izu Trail event organiser Tatsuo Chiba sent out a warning that his famous event, which is seen as a national team qualifier, may need to be cancelled this year. His team’s hard work and creativity paid off, though. The route of the 72km race had to be changed considerably by shortening it by four kilometres and replacing damaged areas with road sections, but at least the race could go on with these amendments. As the weather and temperature last Sunday turned out to be close to ideal after the early morning chill, the race -a runable 68km and 3300hm- was faster than ever before.

Izu Trail Journey is the Japan SuperTrail and therefore stimulates some of the ATM Championship contenders to chase those bonus points. Especially Veronika Vadovicova, making her return to the circuit after moving back to Slovakia following her race win Vietnam Jungle Marathon in May. The 29-year-old wants to get the title, but finds herself under some pressure by Christine Loh and Asuka Nakajima. Both have been piling up points and winning races in her absence. Despite some knee worries, Veronika was therefore determined to collect the 550 points and put on a good show in Japan, knowing how competitive races are in the land of the rising sun.

After 16km, lauded Japanese trail star Shunsuke Okunomiya, winner of Echigo Country Trail last year, was in the lead by himself, closely followed by Yutaro Yokouchi and the colourful Jumpei Yamaguchi. Yokouchi was announced locally as the man to beat, a marathon runner with a PB of 2:09... Tamaguchi is a newcomer to the scene and one who makes an impression by more than his great running ability. Hisashi Kitamura was in the top 20 at this point, with Tomohiro Mizukoshi not far behind him. The Roppongi runner is back 100% fit and showed himself very upbeat before the race. Mizukoshi is fourth in the ATM Championship ranking and will try to get in the top 3, like he managed last year. Veronika Vadovicova was already leading, but the experienced Yumiko Oichi stayed close. Tokyo-based French mountaineering woman Carole Fuchs, the impressive winner of the Cordillera Mountain Ultra last year, looked strong in third place at this point. However, not long afterwards Fuchs began to feel cramped up and stopped her run. Having just returned from another mountain expedition in Nepal, she did not have the best preparation for a fast trail run like Izu. Meanwhile, Maki Tanaka, the winner of Hakuba 2018, turned out to be a DNS.

At the incredibly scenic Nishina Pass, Okunomiya had been reeled in and passed by Yokouchi, with Tamaguchi and Hirokazu Nishimura. At the checkpoint, km 41, we had an interesting situation with hindsight. A confused Yokouchi spent quite some time looking for his personal food, Tamaguchi decided to have a longer break - inexperience? - and Nishimura saw all that and continued running straightaway without stopping! This put him suddenly in the lead with a nervous Yokouchi chasing him. Tomonori Onitsuka then took third place as Yamaguchi was slow to leave the checkpoint and aid station. Kitamura arrived here in 12th place. Veronika was 28th overall and together with Tomohiro Mizukoshi, but Yumiko Oichi was still only 10 minutes behind her.

The last 27km on the rolling hills with breathtaking views on Mt Fuji saw a great battle between Nishimura, from Kansai, and marathon ace Yokouchi. In the end, Nishimura had the upper hand and won the race in 5:53, seven minutes ahead. Onitsuka claimec third in 6:08. Yamaguchi still had to give fourth place away to Tomohiro Machida. Early leader Shunsuke Okunomiya took sixth ahead of Richard Coghlan - a familiar face in Izu and first non-Japanese.

Hisashi Kitamura had dropped to 14th place at the last checkpoint at km 53, but dug deep and incredibly enough managed to accelerate again to catch anc overtake four runners to claim his desired top 10 placing! It was a testimony of the fighting spirit he has displayed all season but also of his continuous improvement as a trail runner. While he was being interviewed, Tomohiro Tsuji - Izu Trail Journey winner two years ago - crossed the finish line in the background... Kitamura’s time: 6:28.

A year ago, Tomohiro Mizukoshi still finished ahead of Kitamura in this race. Now he was 35 minutes behind him. It’s all Kitamura’s improvement, because Mizukoshi ran a solid race at his best level to come in 25th and ahead of Veronika Vadovicova. That did not happen in spring this season... Important for him was also that he beat Daisuke Kobayashi in those final kilometres. Kobayashi was one of the runners eligible for championship points. (Note: ATM regulations stipulate that to score championship points in Izu and UT Panoramic you must have done minimum 1 ATM race this season).

Veronika Vadovicova accomplished a unique feat by winning the women’s race, something no foreigner has done before in this race. Yumiko Oichi kept chasing hard and in the finish the difference was still “only” 14 minutes. Only American top trail runner Laura Kline stayed closer to Vadovicova this season in the Cordillera Mountain Ultra 50k (3 minutes, also due to the Slovakian missing a turn in that race, though). On pure speed, it is hard to see anyone beating her at MMTF. However, to finish first you first need to finish and Vadovicova does sound concerned about her knee, the tough course and the 84km race distance. Plus, UT Panoramic winner Christine Loh is in pole position with 2600 points versus 2530 points. Asuka Nakajima has 2475 and can still reach 2600 if she wins MMTF. Those three will contest the ATM title, as Fredelyn Alberto (2nd in UT Panoramic but behind Loh) and Siokhar Lim (5th in UT Panoramic) can no longer reach the 2600-benchmark set by the Malaysian Pocket Rocket.

ATM#6 and recently crowned Grandmaster Carrie Jane Stander ran to 36th place in Izu and will collect some extra points for her ATM ranking with that result. For Stander it was the last race of the season, as work commitments prevent her from running in Malaysia next weekend.

Finally, worth mentioning here is the fine result from 2017 ATM Champion in 71st place in a time of 8:01. As a true Southeast Asian, Ong suffered from the cold temperatures at the 6:00 am race start (4 degrees), but as soon as he warmed up he executed his own game plan and ran very well to make up fifteen places in the last 13 km! Visibly pleased with his own performance, Steven Ong could create a few surprises next ATM season..

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

Singapore-based Italian Alessandro Sherpa has crowned himself as the new Asia Trail Master champion after beating his main challenger Salva Rambla in a straight dual during the Izu Trail Journey in Japan. Sherpa succeeds Malaysian Steven Ong as ATM champion. In the final 2018 ranking, Rambla is second and Japan’s Tomohiro Mizukoshi third. The iconic 72km long Izu Trail Journey itself was won surprisingly by Fuji-homeboy Ko Ito and the returning Yumiko Oichi in the women’s category.

After the Compressport Trail Blazer in Singapore, Salva Rambla had a psychological advantage over a still-injured Sherpa going into the big Japan final. In addition, Tomohiro Mizukoshi was running in the area he grew up in, and not for the first time. As Rambla more or less had to win the race of the ATM championship contenders (only runners who did two ATM races in 2018 are eligible for points in the season’s final), Mizukoshi was announced as the King Maker, who could make life even harder for Sherpa to retain his 130-points-lead in the championship. As last year, Izu Trail Journey was a brilliant ending to our championship, and six runners ranked in the top ten were present at the start line: Sherpa, Rambla and Mizukoshi, but also Diago Gonzales, Kitamura and Sungsik Joh.

The top 3 of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship: LtR: Sherpa, Rambla and Mizukoshi

It was cold again on race day, yet nowhere near the arctic conditions of last year when runners even found snow and ice on the way. Alessandro Sherpa had had a good night of sleep apparently, as rather than sitting back and following Salva Rambla he crossed the first checkpoint after km 10 as leader in the race together with former Izu winner Tomohiro Tsuji. Rambla was two minutes back in the main group of favourites. As the terrain became hillier, the local lightweight Japanese runners moved up the leaderboard. Four runners went ahead, with Sherpa and Rambla just behind and Hong Kong-based Frenchman Pierre-Andrew Ferriere gradually edging closer as well. Ferriere is on the Gone Running Team and had been announced as being in top shape for Izu Trail Journey, leading the Hong Kong Strava board in November in terms of elevation gain conquered. His first appearance in an ATM points race will be remembered, as he passed the two championship contenders half-way and continued to push through to eventually find himself as third on the race podium!

Meanwhile, Ko Ito had taken command of the race going up to Nishina Pass at the km 42 mark. Also Ito had made a relaxed start, and overtook everyone ahead of him uphill. However, even the Japanese race directors did not really know who Ko Ito was. Later in the interviews he would explain he hails from the Mount Fuji area and usually finishes races around the top ten rank. However, he had prepared himself meticulously for Izu Trail Journey, an A-goal, with many weeks of speed training, proving again how important that aspect of training is for trail as well. Ko Ito would not run away from the better known runners such as Katsuhiro Matsubara, Nobuya Tani and Tsuji (who clearly was too ambitious trying to follow Sherpa in the beginning), but four minutes was enough to take a unprecedented win.

Ko Ito was the surprise race winner of Izu Trail Journey 2018

Meanwhile, Rambla had managed to overtake Sherpa at some point downhill, raising the pressure on the Italian, who did not know where any of the other ATM runners were. If Rambla came first, and someone else placed himself between him and Sherpa, the ATM championship would go to the Spaniard. However, Rambla’s ‘attack’ did not last very long. Tired of all the traveling over the past weeks, he had to admit not having the best of legs for the final race of the season. Sherpa caught him back uphill and saw the moment. He pressed ahead by himself and opened a gap that later would never be more than a handful of minutes. But it proved enough. As he crossed the finish line as 13th, but first of the ATM championship contenders, he had the title in the bag. Salva Rambla eventually let go at the end and arrived just ahead of Tomohiro Mizukoshi, whose second part of the race was significantly better than his first. While Sherpa enjoyed his title victory after months of hardship (he kept on postponing necessary surgery), Rambla could not hide his disappointment, although in fair sportsmanship.

Behind them, Pablo Diago Gonzales and Hisashi Kitamura had their own fantastic battle going on for fourth place in this year’s championship. Both started the race on equal points, so Izu would decide their final ranking, too. The two runners exchanged positions continuously throughout the race. And just when Diago Gonzales appeared to have got it in the bag, Kitamura sprinted past him again in the last main downhill towards the finish! Caught off-guard, similar to Mantra Summits where he lost the race lead in the final kilometre to Elias Tabac, Diago Gonzales had no response left to the final burst of energy of the amazing Kitamura. Based in Kuala Kumpur, the Japanese runner has only begun to run trails exactly a year ago and has seen his performances grow steadily ever since.

The women’s race was won for the third time by Yumiko Oichi. The local athlete had just returned from a very long injury pause, and was delighted to have come out on top of a great battle with two other runners. Hakuba Trails winner Maki Tanaka was dominating proceedings until two-thirds into the race, when suddenly Oichi and Kaori Asahara returned to the front. Yumiko Oichi had the best final dash. A great run was also delivered by the now-Japan-based Carole Fuchs. After a modest early phase, diesel Fuchs managed to race herself in the top five of the race. She was also first of the runners eligible for ATM points, which puts her in the top ten of the final ranking. Aggy Sabanal from Mindanao, Philippines, was the second woman of her country to finish Izu Trail Journey. A mountain climber and specialist of technical trails, Sabanal can be very happy with her result on the hilly but runable Izu Trail. Her performance also resulted in second place in the ATM Championship ranking, splitting the Indonesians Ruth Theresia and Sri Wahyuni. Not bad for a 22-year-old university student!

Did they have a little tussle: Hisashi Kitamura and Pablo Diago Gonzales for 4th place!

Nagano-based New Zealander Richard Coghlan had a fantastic run to 9th place!

All podium placers together on the podium

Yumiko Oichi won Izu Trail for a third time, but after long injury troubles, this was special

Filipino Aggy Sabanal finished the race as one of the youngest in the field at age 22

Korea’s Sungsik Joh found Izu to his liking, but gastritis gave him a tough day on the trails

The top five of the ATM championship in one pic

At the press and race briefing on saturday afternoon

No Mt Fuji this year: it was too cloudy to adore the mountain on the horizon

For the second consecutive season Izu Trail Journey across Japan’s Izu Peninsula south of Tokyo will decide the outcome of the Asia Trail Master men’s championship. After 35 points races in 15 Asian countries, Alessandro Sherpa and Salva Rambla will battle for the title in a straight dual on the fantastic but challenging 72km course from Matzuzaki to Shuzenji.

Izu Trail Journey is rapidly gaining prestige and fame in the Asian trail circuit since it joined our championship series in 2017. Last year’s edition was of course also historical for its frosty and even snowy conditions. It won’t get that cold tomorrow but for sure wind jackets will be worn by most runners as they line up for the start at 6 a.m. by the ocean. Five of the top six male runners in the Asia Trail Master Championship will be competing against some local Japanese elite and international elites. An important novelty for the season’s final, though, is that ATM points will only be awarded to runners who have done minimum two ATM races this year. This means there will be a race within the race for the ATM protagonists. In the fight for the ATM title, it comes down to this: Sherpa leads Rambla by 130 points, but Rambla can still up his total score by 180 points. It means that no matter what anyone else does tomorrow, Salva Rambla needs to be first (+180 points) or second (+130 points) of the ATM protagonists to have a chance of winning the ATM championship. And then it of course still depends on Sherpa’s own performance. If Salva wins Izu and Sherpa is second, Sherpa wins the championship (2550 points vs 2525 points). If Salva wins and Sherpa finishes third in the race, they both end up with a total of 2525 points: a tie and then we look at the last direct confrontation of the two runners in question, which means Salva would be the new champion. That is of course the beauty of tomorrow’s race: Salva Rambla beat Alessandro Sherpa in Singapore’s Trail Blazer only two weeks go, and if fast-legged Salva were to go ahead solo on the Izu Trail, Sherpa must make sure nobody else of the ATM protagonists runs passed him tomorrow. Enter runners Pablo Diago Gonzales, home runner Tomohiro Mizukoshi, Hisashi Kitamura and Daisuke Kobayashi, to name the most likely ‘spoilers’ for Sherpa in this scenario. Tomohiro Mizukoshi has already been labelled the King Maker, because not only is he at home in Izu and did he run this race last year already, but most importantly, he beat both Rambla and Sherpa on a runable 70k course in Bali in October! Moreover, Mizukoshi needs to watch his rear mirror, too. Hisashi Kitamura is not too far down on ATM points and seems keen to finish the championship season as number one Japanese! Pablo Diago Gonzales ran Izu also last year and is back in Japan to do better. Diago Gonzales hails from Spain just like Salva Rambla: will there be a Spanish alliance? Finally, there is Daisuke Kobayashi: little known outside Japan, but a strong runner with Echigo and Hakuba Trails on his ATM record in 2018: he is in the mix for points tomorrow. Kobayashi finished just eight minutes behind Mizukoshi in Hakuba Trails proving his advanced level. In ultra trail running, it is a cliche that anything can happen and there’s too many scenarios to write down here. Let’s conclude with one that sees Salva Rambla finish as second tomorrow: then Sherpa can allow himself to be fourth only.

We could not have hoped for a better finish of the 2018 season, although it is of course a pity that the injured Milton Amat from Malaysia could not join the final in Japan. Amat would have been another candidate for the ATM title thanks to his great performances this season in four big races, three of which were SuperTrails.

In the battle for the race victory tomorrow, Japan’s elites Kei Kikushima (winner Hakuba Trails, but did not compete in another ATM race this season), Tomohiro Tsuji (winner Izu Trail Journey 2016) and Yuichi Miura rank among the top favourites.

The women’s Asia Trail Master Championship already reached a conclusion two weeks ago with Indonesia’s Ruth Theresia crowned as the new champion. However, Izu Trail Journey still has significance for the places of honour. Philippines’ newcomer Aggy Sabanal will be trying to snatch second place in the ATM championship ranking away from Sri Wahyuni. Sabanal, still just 22 years young and university student, is running her first race outside of her home country. She will try to follow into the footsteps of her compatriot Patricia Ann Morota, who completed the freezing edition of last year as first Filipino in great fashion. A strong runner who will try to finish a remarkable year inside the ATM top 10 is Carole Fuchs. Previously based in Bangkok, the French former IronMan professional and winner of Cordillera Mountain Ultra has recently moved to Japan and has been back in training after her successful but physically draining Mount Everest expedition in May. On a good day, Fuchs might as well aim for the top three in tomorrow’s race and a good race result would in any case propel her into the ATM championship top ten. Yukako Takashima, the winner of Echigo Country Trail this year, will be one of the Japanese elite to beat.

As usual we will be reporting live from the race via our social media channels. The race starts at 6 am local time.

Dinner in Tokyo for the two ATM championship finalists: nobody spiked any soup

The top 3 of the ATM Championship ranking in Tokyo, flanked by Aggy Sabanal and ATM General Manager Kris Van de Velde

Kei Kikushima could win the race

Maki Tanaka is among the women’s favourites

Carole Fuchs at Echigo just after her climbing Mt Everest: she finished second

This Sunday the Asia Trail Master Championship series touch base in Japan again for the Hakuba International Trails, a new entry in our series after being a successful Candidate Race last season. Hakuba is close to former Olympic Winter Games host Nagano and takes place in and around a famous ski resort. It is a very popular race of 53 km with a good mix of runable and technical terrain - almost typical Japanese - and in the trend of Echigo in June, it is an event that is about more than just running. 

The 53 km race is the main event and has attracted nearly 900 runners of the 2000 event participants in total. There's also a medium and short distance race on the programme catering for beginning trail runners or athletes from other sports disciplines. Among the latter are even some olympians! Daichi Suzuki was a gold medalist swimmer at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. He is now the Director General of Ministry of Sport in Japan, and he will be having his first trail experience ever! In addition, nordic skier Akito Watabe, who scored silver in this year's Olympic Winter Games in Pyeungchang. And also Aiko Uemera, a four-time olympian in mogul skiing. 

This being the first time in the area, we will get to know a lot of new names this weekend. Tokyo's Tomohiro Mizukoshi and Niigata's Jun Kaise on the other hand are already established runners in our series. Jun Kaise is the double winner of Kushigata Wind Trail (2017 and 2018) and also a third-place finisher in Echigo Country Trail last season. Tomohiro Mizukoshi, of course, is the current number three in the Asia Trail Master Championship, having led the standings for a short while a few months ago. He has been running mainly in South East Asia and was second in Magnificent Merapoh Trail 100 only a month ago. 

In the women's we will be paying attention to the performance of France's Carole Fuchs, winner of Cordillera. Mountain Ultra in March, and 2nd in Echigo three months ago after climbing Mount Everest. Can Fuchs - back in training since weeks - take a win in Japan? If she does, she also becomes a serious contender for the Championship later in the year. 

We will be reporting live from the action at Hakuba Trails via our usual social media channels. 

Currently 3rd in the ATM Championship, Tomohiro Mizukoshi is at it again this Sunday

Niigata ace Jun Kaise is always a podium candidate in 50 km races

The 3rd edition of the Echigo Country Trail in Nagaoka, Niigata, was the most successful to date with around 1000 runners who traveled to the traditional countryside of Japan, roughly 2,5 hours northwest of Tokyo by shinkansen bullet train. In beautiful weather, Kota Araki once again proved to be one of his country's best trail runners with an outstanding race victory in the men's 53 km. Half a year ago, Araki also won the Izu Trail Journey. He finished in 4:46 - a new course record - and over fifteen minutes ahead of Sota Ogawa, who in so doing collected his first ATM championship points after the DNF at Penang Eco 100. Ogawa ran a strong race on the generally runable course, although he prefers it rough and tough. He concluded in 5h02, and was able to hold off Kenichi Kawano and Tsutomu Nagata. Seven minutes later, Kazufumi Ose arrived in fifth place. Earlier this season, Ose was second in the 9 Dragons 50/50 in Hong Kong. 

Another sixteen minutes later, in 6th, came Tomohiro Mizukoshi. His assignment was clear at the start: finish in the top 14 to claim the points lead in the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship. He did it in style and therefore is the first ever Japanese runner to be on number 1 on our championship ranking. Mizukoshi wouldn't be Mizukoshi if he hadn't grabbed the bull by the horns in the race, of course. Just like in Penang Eco, he started fast and mixed with the naturally faster-paced runners ahead of him. A courageous strategy, but he pulled it off. There's a gap of four weeks till the next points race in the ATM Championship - Mantra Summits Challenge in Indonesia on 14/15 July - so at least until then Tomohiro Mizukoshi can call himself the ATM Championship leader! 

The women's race also produced an amazing result as 47-year-old Yukako Takashima took the victory in 6:16. An impressive feat as in second place was nobody else than France's Carole Fuchs in 6:52, winner of the Cordillera Mountain Ultra and several other races outside the ATM circuit. Fuchs, of course, had just returned from a mountaineering expedition and a successful ascent of Mount Everest. It is normal she is not at her best level right now, yet let's not take anything away from Takashima's win neither. The podium was completed by Mayumi Kobayashi.

Kirk Kenny's highly-anticipated photo album of the Echigo event weekend will be made available on our facebook page later this week.  

With Ultra Trail Mount Damavand (postponed to August 2019) and Tam Dao Mountain Trail (postponed to later date) not taking place this month, the ATM Championship is taking a one-month-break now until the Mantra Summits Challenge in Malang, East Java, Indonesia on 14/15 July. That one promises to be another cracker with a very technical mountain course of 75 km and 5500 hm. 

The women's podium this year

The 3rd edition of Echigo Country Trail will see close to a thousand runners strike down in the Oguni Forest Reserve of Nagaoka in Japan’s countryside. This is one of the most colourful events in our series, thanks to the overwhelming hospitality of the local people, and the expert organisation and direction by local professional runner Hiroaki Matsunaga. On Sunday, there’s again a 52 km race on the menu: runable for the most part, but with some very technical hills nonetheless to break the rhythm and test runners’ resilience. 

As this is a race in Japan, obviously Japanese runners are top favourite to score the podium spots. But one woman could actually upset the natural order of things. Thailand-based Carole Fuchs from France will be doing her second ATM points race of the season, and after her demonstration during the Cordillera Mountain Ultra in Philippines last March it is hard not to see her at least on the podium on Sunday. One thing that could of course hamper Fuchs this weekend is that she hasn’t done much specific running training since CMU. Instead, she - successfully - climbed Mount Everest! Japan’s Tomoko Ueno was 4th last year in this race, can she improve this season to grab a top three? 

Back from Mount Everest: Carole Fuchs

In the men’s, we can expect anything to happen. Jun Kaise is always a favourite on home soil in this part of Japan, Niigata. A few weeks ago, the sympathetic firefighter again won the short an crispy Kushigata Wind Trail. Clearly in shape, can he do better than his third place in Echigo from last year. Jun Kaise was also the best ranked Japanese runner in the 2017 Asia Trail Master Championship. 

Speaking of which, another Japanese runner can propel himself into the top spot of this year’s ATM championship! Tomohiro Mizukoshi from Tokyo has been a very busy bee traveling and racing in Malaysia and South Korea as well as Kushigata. Mizukoshi is third in the standings with 1510 points now with four race results in bag already. Echigo will be his fifth race and he will be the first of the top male runners to reach the fifth level. He needs 265 points to overtake points leader Pablo Diago Gonzales, which corresponds to a place in the top 14 on Sunday. If Mizukoshi succeeds, it would be the first time a Japanese runner is on top of the ATM championship ranking. 

For the race win, Mizukoshi - a good road runner as he showed during Penang Eco 100 - will be up against other big names in Japan such as Sota Ogawa and Kazufumi Ose. Ogawa had a DNF in Penang due to heat and stomach issues, and will be keen to set something straight this weekend. Ogawa has also planned Mantra Summits Challenge next month and wants to compete for the championship. Kazufumi Ose already has 500 championship points in the bag this season: he was second in the 50/50 of The 9 Dragons in Hong Kong last February. 

As usual, we will be reporting live on our social media channels from Nagaoka and the Echigo Country Trail. 

You can also follow action here with a webcam:

https://oguni.love/events/echigo-country-trail

Sota Ogawa and Tomohiro Mizukoshi finds themselves together again this weekend

The final weekend of the 2018 Asia Trail Master Championship will again consist of two events where the final points for this season can be gathered: Ultra Trail Panoramic in Pai, Thailand on 7/8 December, followed by Izu Trail Journey on the Izu Peninsula in Japan on Sunday, 9 December. Upon conclusion of these two events, we know who succeed Steven Ong and Kim Matthews as the male and female champion in the Asia Trail Master Championship. 

Different from last year, we are introducing an added rule to the points distribution at these two events to allow for a fair conclusion to the championship and to offer runners a fair choice between the two events. The new rule is:

“Only runners who have scored points in minimum two ATM races during the 2018 season will receive ATM Championship points for their respective result in UT Panoramic 100 miles or 100k,  or Izu Trail Journey 72k.” 

In other words, the total race results of both Thai and Japanese events will be filtered, and only runners for whom UT Panoramic or Izu Trail Journey is the third ATM points race of the season will be retained and given championship points. 

Practical example: runner A finishes 9th in Izu Trail Journey. However, the runners in 2nd and 4th place have not done any other race in ATM this year, and the runner in 5th place has only done one before Izu Trail Journey. They are taken out of the list, and runner A gets points equivalent to 5th place. 

By introducing this added rule, runners in contention for the  ATM championship title can freely choose their final race without worrying about the competitive level of the potential local participants. 

Please note that Izu Trail Journey is of course the Japan SuperTrail, meaning 50 bonus points for the relevant finishers. Relevant finishers on the 100 miles of UT Panoramic likewise score the 100-miles bonus, i.e. also 50 points. 

To be clear, this concerns the ATM Championship only and not the Grandmaster Quest. All finishers of the UT Panoramic 100 miles and 100k races, as well as Izu Trail Journey 72k will score a point for their individual Grandmaster challenge. 

With Kushigata Wind Trail in Tainai City wrapped up - the 28km race won by Jun Kaise and Kazumi Matsuo - the Japanese chapter of this year's Asia Trail Master Championship has been opened. The next points race is Echigo Country Trail - a classic meanwhile - and on 9 September we have a new gem in our series: Hakuba Trails. Another solid 52 km race in the outskirts of the Japan Alps near Nagano, former host city of the Olympic Winter Games. Hakuba itself is a famous international ski resort in Japan, and in summer what can be better than using the available facilities to put up a serious trail running event. Hakuba Trails happens to be one of Japan's most popular races these days, and as of 2018 international runners have a great opportunity to join the event and score points for the Asia Trail Master Championship series. The official registration has now just been opened. There is an English form to do so, and below you can also find a contact person at Hakuba for your immediate queries in English. 

A short itinerary will also be provided in due course for runners who like to stay a few more days in Japan after the race. The itinerary will include 20 to 30 km runs/hikes in the Japan Alps area before heading to Tokyo. Please stay tuned for more on this optional trip, which is separate from the race. 

Link to Hakuba Trails English registration form: [LINK}

Email contact in English for quesions: Kento Maruyama (k.maruyama.shinya@gmail.com) 

Hakuba Trails