Tokyo Grand Trail - 50k race
2024
by James Mallion
A tough grind in the big city
The Guts of it
What: 2024 Tokyo Grand Trail (2nd edition)
When: May 24th - May 26th, 2024
Where: Okutama, Tokyo
Who: 323 runners total (100 mile course: 163 participants (57% completion rate), 50km course: 160 participants (92.5% completion rate))
Last Edition: May 26th - May 28th, 2023
Race Photos
Into the unknown on the Tokyo Grand Trail
2024 marked the second year of the Tokyo Grand Trail. The TGT is a local trail race that takes place in the much traveled, vast mountainous regions of west Tokyo including Okutama, Ome, Mitake, Takao and more. In the inaugural event last year in 2023 the race drew 70 entrants, among those, 40 finished the race. The 100 mile, unmarked course, with a cumulative elevation gain/loss of around 11,000 meters was quickly being hailed as one of the toughest 100 mile trail races in the country.
Living close to Tokyo myself, I was intrigued by this race when I first heard about it last year. Ultra-distance trail races in Tokyo are a bit of a rarity, save for the much beloved 30 year old Hasetsune Cup. I wanted to get involved with the race, but as I had never done a 100 miler in my limited trail racing experience, I didn’t think the Tokyo Grand would be quite the race to jump into the 100 mile distance. To my delight however, this year’s edition of the TGT was also offering a 50km course (59km with around 4000m elevation gain/loss to be exact). Having previously completed a few trail ultras ranging in distance from 48km to 105km, I felt confident I would be able to get through the rugged 59k course. I also knew that it would still challenge me plenty and finishing wouldn't be a given.
A low-key race in Japan’s mega-city
Having recently taken part in the spectacle of a race that is the Mt. Fuji 100 (I did the Kai 70k just a few weeks prior), I was now ready for something completely different to all the flash and buzz that came with Japan’s most famous trail ultra.
The Tokyo Grand Trail, despite taking place in one of the world’s biggest cities, has a laid-back, friendly, hometown vibe to it. There were a few invited pros to the event but the pressure to perform certainly wouldn’t have been as high as normal. Regardless of the lower profile the race exuded, I knew that it would be a challenging one and not to be taken lightly.
As this race was just a few weeks removed from my 70km (Mt. Fuji 100) Kai race, I couldn’t help but compare the two in my head. Despite Kai being about 10km longer than the Tokyo Grand Trail 50k I viewed the two races as a similar challenge in difficulty.
The TGT course had more climbing than Kai, it had less aid stations, it would be run mostly in the dark and of course, there was the fact that the course was unmarked, something that was completely new to me in a race. The other unique features of the Tokyo Grand Trail are that it was capped at 200 entrants for each distance and runners were allowed to use hiking poles on the course.
Late starts, running poles and GPS racing
I found that the TGT separated itself in these 3 areas in particular, so I want to address each one individually before I get to my race experience and a breakdown of the course.
First up is the 4pm start time, which was consistent for both the 100 mile and 50km courses.
I can’t exactly say whether or not this late afternoon start makes the race more challenging but it certainly requires a good deal of night running. For the 100 mile entrants, the race had a 48 hour cutoff, with the majority finishing in the 40 hour range. This makes for 2 full nights of running in the dark. Per the organizers remarks, this late afternoon start time was decided in part because it roughly aligns with start time of the famed UTMB grand final in France, which traditionally has a start time of around 6pm. For 100 mile TGT racers wishing to take part in UTMB in the future I could see this race as being good practice for UTMB.
For myself in the 50km division, what the 4pm start meant was the majority of the race would be run at night. I was aiming for a finish in the 12-14 hour range (it had a 20 hour cutoff), so basically more than two thirds of my race would be run with a headlamp, in the dark of the night. I don’t love running at night, but I don’t despise it either. My experience in running through the night is limited but I’ve done it before and I knew I could get through it with a little caffeine and a whole lot of persistence. Night-time trail running takes away some of the stunning views of mountains, forests and nature but on the flipside for a race taking place in early summer it also takes away some of the heat and humidity that was present on this race weekend.
A plus of the late start time for myself, and no doubt many other runners in both divisions, was the ability to get to the race venue with plenty of time coming from far and wide. The race venue was a short walk from Oku-Tama station in west Tokyo, which took me about 3 hours door-to-door coming from northern Chiba prefecture. If the race had started at 6 or 7am for example, I wouldn't have been able to get to the venue on time without staying over nearby the night before.
An arms race
As for the ability to run the race with hiking/running poles, this is indeed something rare for races in the Kanto region. For myself it was only the second time in the 10 trail races I’ve run that allowed participants to use poles. The reasoning for allowing poles in the TGT according to organizers, was because of the limited number of participants. They also noted that the trails were mostly well travelled and hard packed, so they wouldn’t get damaged by the use of poles during the event.
For myself, using trekking poles during the event was appreciated but also challenging as I don’t often have the chance to get out and practice using them. Growing up skiing I am fairly proficient with poles in general, but still struggled at times during this race deciding when to use the poles. It’s often obvious deciding to use poles on steep uphills but choosing whether to use them on downhills and flats often left me thinking if I was being as efficient as I could be with their usage. Overall, I think the vast majority of people I saw out on the course were using poles at one time or another. Especially on courses with a lot of climbing like this one, I’d recommend using poles to take a load off your legs. I’d guess in the 100 mile version of this race, the ability to use poles could even be the difference between finishing or not.
Ideally, the more practice you get with your poles before a race like this the better. Using poles on steep uphills for 10, 20, 30 hours or more requires skill, coordination and arm strength that many runners may not have. Keep that in mind if you join this race in the future.
Navigating the Grand
Running through the night is tough but something I had some experience with, running 60km with multiple technical climbs and minimal aid stations is a challenge, but again, something I had done before. What I was the most unsure of coming into this race was the fact that it was run on an unmarked course. Racers would have to rely on their own GPS devices like smartphones and running watches to ensure they were on course and completing the race as intended. This style of racing was a first for me, as I’m sure it was for many other participants.
For the uninitiated let me explain how I navigated the course. It was mandatory for the course GPX files to be downloaded to a device prior to the race. As such I put the files on both my smartphone and running watch (an outdated Garmin 245 foreathlete if you’re wondering). My watch does have the ability to show a course and provide navigation on screen but from my experience using the feature, it’s awkward to use and tends to drain the watch’s battery. I opted instead to use my smartphone to navigate the course using the race’s recommended app, Geograpica. The app is fairly easy to use and allows users to view maps and coordinates offline, which is essential in the mountains where cell service is far from guaranteed. There are a number of different options for maps, layouts and color schemes. I'd recommend the app and use it again whether training or racing.
Using my phone as my primary source of navigation however was not without its challenges. This meant ensuring that my phone would have battery power for the roughly 13 hours it took me to finish the race. Keeping my 5 year old phone juiced up all this time naturally required the use of an external battery pack. My battery pack, while useful, was overly large, heavy and a burden to carry in the front pocket of my running pack. I took it out at each of the 3 aid stations and gave my phone a quick charge to ensure it would still have power.
This setup got me through the course with the ability to use my phone and the Geographica app all the way through but I think if I had to go much longer it wouldn't be sustainable.
I’d say ideally a good running watch with long battery life, a bright display and a solid map function would be the best way to get through a race like this. Racing solely while using GPS was a novel experience and not without a few errors and lessons learned along the way. Let me pass the main lesson on.
Don't trust the person or group of people in front of you. Early on in the race and multiple times throughout, small groups of runners would organically form. When in the middle or back of these small packs, it’s easy to zone out and assume the runner at the front knows where they’re going. Speaking from experience, DO NOT assume the lead runner in the pack knows where they’re going, they will lead you astray at some point.
This happened to me multiple times during my race on the TGT. There was one point I specifically remember about 20km into the course where a small pack of us went about 2 km off course being led by the runner in front. The pack finally realized this when someone noticed we were well off course. We all then had to backtrack and do the same annoying uphill section again but on the proper section of the course this time. It was after this experience that I made a point to take frequent stops, pull out my phone and ensure I was on course. This was annoying and awkward, but not as annoying as getting lost and repeating sections of the course again and again.
The course was often not easy to navigate and I would be surprised if there was anyone who didn’t stray off course at least a bit. Although the GPX course data was marked as 59km, I finished my race at around 64km. Navigation difficulties aside, this was something I knew would be part of the challenge and fun(!?) going into this race. There’s no point fighting it, I tried to embrace it after a while and just keep running my race.
A strategy to better deal with this would be to familiarize yourself with the course prior to the race, study the course map and get out and run parts of the course. All smart ideas and things I didn't have the opportunity to do prior to race day.
On to the Race
With the novelties of the night, the navigation and the trekking poles all covered, let’s get to the course and my overall race experience.
As per usual when I do a trail race, especially a longer one, I like to separate it into smaller sections so it’s easier to wrap my head around and not get too overwhelmed. In the case of this roughly 60km race, there were 3 full aid stations as well as a semi-aid station with water only. As such, when planning the race I separated each of these planned breaks into sections where I could pause, reset and reload supplies as needed. So, five sections total.
The race began from Okutama Tokeihara sports park and we first got a break at a water-only aid station some 7.5km later. This first section, while the shortest of the five, contained about 900m of climbing in that distance. It was late afternoon, the sun was still out and it was hot. However the race was just getting started and spirits were high. People were still grouped together closely here and navigation issues were scarcely an issue. I enjoyed this section a good deal as it provided a chance to get used to my hiking poles, take in the views and get prepared for what was to come. The second section leading to the first proper aid station was the way down from the big climb. It was almost entirely downhill, runnable and fairly easy on the legs with a mix of trail and road.
As I reached the first real aid station at kilometer 16 I finally took a load off. I enjoyed some of the station’s delicious somen noodles, charged my phone a bit, switched on my headlamp and geared up for a long night ahead.
Exiting the aid station I proceeded alone on the roughly 5km section of road to reach the next set of mountains. This middle section between aid stations one and two roughly spanned about 19 km and was also enjoyable. It was a mix between road and trail, there was climbing and descending but all fairly gentle. It was a long section in between aid stations but wasn't too bad as the heat and humidity of the day was starting to dissipate as the night came into its own.
I got through this section without any major issues, continuing to keep an eye on the course map to ensure I was still on course. I conversed with and crossed paths with numerous runners in this section. I found that having to rely on our devices to get through the course rather than course markings created a tighter comradery between racers. People would stay together and run in small groups, rather than go off ahead in fear of getting lost alone.
As I approached aid station two at around the 35km mark, I made sure to take my time at this one. I knew that the upcoming section would be the hardest and test me in numerous ways. I took in a couple bowls of the Chazuke on offer, (a tasty rice-and-broth-based dish), refilled my bottles and gulped down a caffeinated energy gel. The upcoming fourth section (of five) was about 16km total and had around 1400m of climbing, often on narrow, technical terrain in pitch black.
It was also in this section when a light rain started to fall and a heavy fog started rolling in. The rain I didn’t mind too much, it was the blinding fog that made things a bit dicey. Navigating steep mountain trails in the dark, in a thick fog, while periodically staring at a map on your phone is a challenge I hope I don’t encounter again for a long while.
The mountain paths were narrow and unforgiving, the trails in this section were slick from the falling rain and often included steep ascents then descents. There were moments in this section when I questioned what I was doing out here and why I would join a race like this in the first place. These moments didn't last long however as I came to realize that moments like that are exactly what I had signed up for, the struggle to finish is exactly what makes it meaningful.
I suppose it also makes sense that during this section I had run out of water and my stomach turned a bit sour. The section was slow, tedious and I was running on fumes. The grind was real but ended just before sunrise as I finally made my way to the final aid station. While I wasn't able to stomach a lot at this point, I was relieved to refill my water bottles and take in some of the mochi and soup on offer.
I should mention that all the aid stations and staff on the course were all friendly and super helpful. The aid stations were stocked with local specialties in addition to aid station standards like sports drinks, coke, tea, coffee, water and more. I heard the 100 mile course had even more on offer like rice balls, ramen, porridge, special curry and more. There was also the option for racers to stop at convenience stores and vending machines along the course and fuel up that way. Although I didn't spot too many convenience stores on the 50km course, I heard that for many of the 100 mile racers, stopping at the ‘conbini’ to refuel was an essential part of the race.
The Dawning of a new day
Exiting the final aid station, I moved onto the final section of the course, which was thankfully also one of the easiest. The final 8km or so back to the race venue was mostly downhill and a mix of road and light trail. The sun started to come up as the final few kilometers ticked away. I could see the mountain scenery yet again. I soaked it in. The light rain was letting up and my late night nausea was starting to subside, a new day was here.
I finished the race in just over 13 hours and was more than spent after a tough but fulfilling night navigating the challenging west Tokyo mountains. In contrast to the elaborate finish line at the Fuji 100 weeks prior, the TGT finish was a simple affair with just a few staff welcoming racers back. I turned down the celebratory beer on offer at the finish but took a morning coffee and was shortly on my way back home, left to process my night on the trails.
The Tokyo Grand Trail is a tough race for many reasons. it’s not a race to be taken lightly at 59km and I would imagine vastly more so at the 100 mile distance. I did suffer a good deal during the race but I also had many serene, enjoyable moments. I feel a fond sense of gratification looking back on it now weeks later. The race has a homely vibe, the racers and staff are humble and friendly and the venue is easily accessible. There’s a lot to like about the TGT.
While not for beginners, I’d recommend this race to anyone looking for a challenge outside of the norm. It's a race that will get you out of your comfort zone and push you in ways you might not expect, you might not want, but that you surely will remember.
James Mallion
June 2024