I know, what the hell kind of title is that? That is a direct translation of the title of the last race I did last weekend in Shimizu-cho on Sunday September 6, 2009. It was a 20k, 10k, 5k, and 2k trail run at the sen-nen no mori (千年の森) also known as the Millennium Forest. The place is owned and run by the son of the owner of the local Newspaper/TV/Radio/Sports Club/Hotel etc, etc guy. It was the first trail run ever held here in Tokachi. Japanese are starting to get more and more into trail running and it is something that I have always been interested in. Unfortunately, I have not trails to run on near my home. The closest thing to trails are the dirt roads that go in between farms and fields here.
I ran in the 20k Trail Run which was 50% trail or dirt roads. The first 8k was all trail with lots of ups and downs. Then there was a paved section another dirt section and still another paved and then dirt section before the final 1k that was all soft, soft grass and felt a bit like running on marshmallows. There were a few mucky spots and a bit of mud but not much and I didn't get nearly as muddy as I had hoped I would. I also didn't see anyone bleeding from the knees or anything which would have been cool. The trail section was run in the woods and for the most part was soft with gravely sections hear and there but no big rocks or anything. There were, I believe, a total of 3 lookouts on the course but I was having too much fun running to stop and take a look. The overall winner finished the 20k with a time of 1 hour and 19 minutes (1:19) and took home a Columbia Sports back pack and the second place winner got a pair of Montrail Trail Running Shoes. Oh! I wish I were that fast. It would be great to take home something other than the participation prize.
I had SO much fun running this race. I came in 17th out of 55 people in the 39 and under division with a time of 1 hour and 45 minutes (1:45:32). That was about the same time that I had on my previous race in Nemuro at the Nosappu Cape (Half) Marathon. My times this year suck! I mean, I am really slow. My mileage is also way, way down from what it was last year at my peak. Last year I ran near 300km in both May and June while I was getting ready for the Saroma 100k Ultra. My goal for this month is 150km.
I have been really bad about updating this blog or any of my blogs but I have been thinking recently that it would be better to be updating the blogs that spending all my time doing other pointless and fruitless activities. It may also help me to stay more focused on other things. SO, this blog is going to morph into my running blog. As always I will be putting up race information when I can and especially race reports and hopefully I can talk a little more about my running in general. I am not a very talkative person to begin with so we shall see how this goes.
I'm sorry, I didn't get any good photos of the run but my friends did take the time during this inagural run to take lots of photos which you can see at the links below.
Ogaman
http://ameblo.jp/ogaman42195/entry-10336912256.html#main
Takehshi
His race report was broken up into three articles. I will post them here.
第1回十勝トレイル 完走レポートIII Report 3
The Millennium Forest Hokkaido Tokachi Trail Running home page.
十勝千年の森 北海道・十勝トレイルランニング
You can see my running log at
Jognote in Japanese at the following link.
Jognote is a Japanese site that allows you to track your running, swimming, walking, biking, weight, body fat and others. It has mapping functions and is an SNS type site where you can connect with other active people and share information. Just like Nike+ or Buckeyoutdoors (See below) it has challenges and special interest communities. It allows you to import your Nike+ runs from Nike as well as your AU Sports data and, get this, your Tanita electronic scale data! YOu can post photos to your workout posts as well. I don't think it will track your equipment usage. For that you'll want to use buckeyeoutdoors or some other service.
http://www.jognote.com/users/8846
I also use
buckeyeoutdoors.com
This site is not pretty but very functional. It has all of the functions that Jognote has but it is in English except, I don't think you can post photos to your workouts. But that's fine. You can track ALL KINDS of workouts and keep track of your equipment mileage as well as sync it with Nike+ and Sport Tracks(?). Check my log at buckeyeoutdoors at the following link.
http://www.buckeyeoutdoors.com/cgi-bin/training/traininglog?guest=clintonlane
The course was different than how it had been in the past. Typhoons have knocked down many trees and made it too difficult to run in the mountains so the course sticks close to the river and uses the river access roads. I ran the 13 km distance and the first half was downhill on mostly graveled road with some horse trail mixed in. The second half was dirt road or horse trail running along the river until the last 3 km or so, which took you through the forest and back uphill to the finish. There were about 4 river crossing and some deep mud in spots.
There were about 150 people at the event and there were about 45 men in the 13 km distance. The organizers had prepared some gifts to give the winners and prepared enough items for everyone who stayed through the lucky drawing to be able to take something home. Sports drink were given to runners at the finish and there was a small shop setup that was selling food and snacks. The run itself is now based at the Shikaoi Geo Park. It seems to be a place where you can learn about geology and enjoy the outdoors. There is a Park Golf course there, a parking lot and a lot of nice well kept lawn.
https://www.facebook.com/%E9%B9%BF%E8%BF%BD%E3%83%88%E3%83%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3-554384901282649/
