Takashi Doi Wins Trans Japan Alps Race in Course Record Time

by Koichi Iwasa for DogsorCaravan.com

photos by Sho Fujimaki and Hao Moda

Five days after it began, the Trans Japan Alps Race 2022 (TJAR) welcomed its first finisher to Ohama Beach in Shizuoka on the Thursday, Aug. 11 Mountain Day public holiday. That first finisher this year was Takashi Doi, arriving at the finish line amid heavy rain 4 days, 17 hours and 33 minutes after he started. Doi beat the previous course record of 4 days, 23 hours and 52 minutes set in 2016 by Shogo Mochizuki by 6 hours and 19 minutes.

Doi arrived at the Chosugoya checkpoint marking the beginning of the descent out of the Southern Alps 301 km from the starting point at 12:45 a.m. on the 11th. At around 5:20 a.m. he crossed the Hatanagi Otsuri bridge at 307 km, emerging onto a paved forest road with 88 km to go. Even though he'd been skipping long naps up to then, Doi still looked fresh and light when he arrived at the Ikawa Auto Camp checkpoint with 69 km to go at 8:04 a.m. From there on out he continued on without any major breaks. The rain started to come down as he entered the outskirts of Shizuoka, but crowds still turned out to cheer Doi on as he became the 2022 race's first finisher.

Doi first took part in the TJAR last year. He led on the first day, but with an approaching typhoon looming ominously the race was canceled at the end of the day. It only took his second attempt for him to finish it and rewrite the record book. Doi's trail resume includes an 11th-place finish at the 2015 UTMB, and more recently a runner-up finish at UTMF this past April. In 2020 he was 4th in the 298 km Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge in 56:25. It's safe to say that he's one of Japan's top athletes on the ultra distance and trail running scene.

Behind Doi, Kazuki Ishio, Naomasa Kimura and Makoto Baba all made it to the Sanpuku Pass Shelter checkpoint at 268 km before midnight Wednesday night. Four-time winner and previous course record holder Mochizuki was also high up in the standings. Ishio got to the Chosugoya checkpoint at 301 km at around 5:00 p.m., Kimura arriving at 6:50 p.m. and Baba and Mochizuki both coming in around 10:40 p.m. Ishio passed the 69 km to go point at around 10:00 p.m., putting him on track to reach the finish at Ohama Beach Friday morning. A finish on the morning of the sixth day is an excellent performance that stands up against past years' winning runs.

The deadline at the Ichinose checkpoint was noon Thursday, but apart from three athletes who had dropped out everyone in the race made it through and advanced on into the Southern Alps. The Sanpuku Pass checkpoint at 268 km was the next cutoff, the deadline falling at 5:00 p.m. on the 12th. But again this year there are worries about the weather. The forecast calls for a low-pressure tropical storm south of Japan to strengthen into a typhoon as it heads north. Rain on the 12th is expected to grow heavier in the area of the race as time goes on. That seems likely to impact the event continuing to go forward.

In Yamanaka in the Southern Alps where we are online athlete tracking has a delay, but as of the end of the fifth day the standings look like this according to GPS data:

Finish: Takashi Doi - 4:17:33 - CR

69 km to go: Kazuki Ishio

83 km to go: Naomasa Kimura

~302 km: Shingo Mochizuki

~301 km: Makoto Baba

~294 km: Atsushi Kaise

~293 km: Yoshihiro Ide

~292 km: Masashi Noyori

~288 km: Masataka Ohata

~287 km: Yusuke Hayashida

~286 km: Takahiro Makino

~275 km: Soki Sato

~271 km: Kaname Sago

~268 km: Akihiro Suruya, Naohiro Hoda

~265 km: Haruo Ozaki

~263 km: Hidesuke Yokoi, Atsushi Seki

~255 km: Kenichi Yoshikawa

~254 km: Hironori Nakajima

~248 km: Kengo Noda

~247 km: Kenichi Ijima

~243 km: Kazunori Kubo, Mitsuru Mikami

~241 km: Kenichiro Inasaki, Takahiro Matsumoto

~240 km: Hideki Kawata

DNF, evening, Day 4: Shinichi Tsuboi

DNF, night, Day 3: Atsuhiro Nishida

DNF, morning, Day 3: Masaaki Takeuchi

Thanks to Sho Fujimaki, Hao Moda, and the other great trail photographers who contributed to making our coverage possible.

https://dogsorcaravan.com/2022/08/12/day5-2022-tjar-digest/

translated by Brett Larner

Matsumoto Marathon Canceled After Fraudulently Hiding Past Financial Losses

On Apr. 23 the city government of Matsumoto, Nagano announced that it was canceling this fall's Matsumoto Marathon after discovering accounting fraud in the event's operation. "We are going to conduct a review of how the race has been conducted up to now," a statement from the city read. Mayor Yoshinao Gaun apologized at a press conference, saying, "We sincerely apologize for letting down everyone involved in putting the event together." The Matsumoto Marathon is run by an executive committee made up of representatives from the city, the Matsumoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Shinano Mainichi Newspaper, and the relevant track and field associations. According to city officials, financial records for the November, 2023 edition of the race were fraudulently manipulated. Income from participants' entry fees was lower than expected, and although the city managed to get the Shinano Mainichi, to which it had outsourced overall event management, to r...

Australian Male Arrested on Drug Smuggling Charges After Entering Japan for Osaka Marathon

On Apr. 9 the Kinki Region Bureau of Health, Labor and Welfare's Drug Control Division arrested Matthew Inglis Fox , 38, an Australian business owner of no known fixed address, on charges of violating the importation regulations of the Narcotics Control Act by smuggling tablets containing marijuana elements from the United States. The suspect had entered Japan in February to run in the Osaka Marathon . The suspect was arrested on suspicion of smuggling approximately 12 pills containing marijuana by sending them from a U.S. airport to Osaka's Kansai Airport using an international courier service on Feb. 19. The Osaka branch of the Customs Service discovered the tablets in arriving cargo and suspected them to be narcotics. Customs contacted the Narcotics Control Division, which then began its investigation of the case. According to the Narcotics Control Division, the suspect denies the charges. Translator's note: Fox, who received a lifetime ban from the Ageo City Half Mara...

Nyiva and Wolde Win Gifu Seiryu Half

Two good races happened Sunday at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon . The women's race was a head-to-head race between 2022 marathon world champion Gotytom Gebreslase and debuting Japan-based Janet Nyiva . Side-by-side through 15 km, Nyiva shattered Gebreslase with a massive surge over the last 5 km that ultimately put 52 second between them, Nyiva wining in 1:07:37 and Gebreslase next in 1:08:29. 2023 Asian marathon champion Eunice Chebichii Chumba held off the up-and-coming Kana Kobayashi , a member of Japan's marathon team for September's Tokyo World Championships, with a 1:09:07 for 3rd. Kobayashi's 1:09:09 for 4th was a PB by almost 5 minutes and the fastest time ever on the rolling Gifu course by a Japanese woman. Yumi Yoshikawa was 5th in 1:10:51. Five men went out front on mid-59 pace. Dawit Wolde , debuting Kiprono Sitonik , Vincent Yegon and veteran Bedan Karoki all took turns leading, with only Richard Kimunyan tucking in and declining to share the load. ...

japan running news

Search This Blog