Race to the Summit

In anticipation of the Kanagawa marathon that is coming up in February, I decided to see how far I could run in five hours. I have never run a marathon before, and my semi-daily runs usually only last an hour or so. After about 2 hours, I was feeling good, but was sooooooo bored - even with an ipod full of NPR. I later discovered that I will be out of town during the marathon anyway, so I guess there is no reason to prepare... Until now.

The other day I came across an article about the Trans-Japan Alpine Race. Contestants race 420km across Japan from the Japan Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Along the way they find themselves crossing the North, Central, and Southern alps, home to Japan's highest peaks - several over 3,000 meters. The most interesting thing about the race however, is that it must be completed in 8 days.

The organizers of this bi-annual event admit to worrying that there may be no finishers, though this has not yet been a problem. The winner of the last race finished in 6 days, 2 hours (Just for some perspective, hiking seven hours per day would take 26 days to complete.) Of this years six participants, several dropped out without completing it, but the only female racer came in second with a time of 7 days, 10 hours.

Hmmm. I look forward to training this weekend.