Today, I would like to delve into the company that organizes Ultra Trail Ninghai by UTMB and its representative. Ultra Trail Ninghai is a pioneer in trail races in China, with events held since 2013.
A wrap-up of October, when the Asian trail running scene saw a flurry of developments, including UTMB’s expansion into Indonesia and the cancellation of the ATM final. It also analyzes trends in GPS watches and new shoe releases.
Explains what a “title sponsor” is and compares recent trends and concrete cases in Japan and overseas. Draws lessons from the Kyoto Marathon, UTMB-related events, and road-race examples like TCS to consider feasibility and operational implications for trail races.
Summary of trail running news for September 2025. This edition also puts a spotlight on the Vietnam Mountain Marathon and reflects on the sense of youthfulness observed there.
GO ASIA TRAIL is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Operations have moved from a personal blog to a corporation, and we’re relaunching on a custom CMS. With bilingual Japanese–English support and a race search feature, we’ll ramp up publishing for the next decade.
Simulates how participant counts affect congestion and DNF rates, and proposes operational design improvements.
Released an open-source tool that reproduces course congestion with Monte Carlo methods, visualizing the impact of cutoff settings and field size.
A review of Beast Runners’ aloha-style running tee. Covers fabric feel, sizing, and where it shines.
Field-tested the Solaiz Eight Sun. Evaluates slip resistance, visual clarity, and day-to-day versatility.
A critical review of RUN+TRAIL’s Kaga Spa feature. Outlines missing issues and proposes improvements from a reader’s perspective.
Examines why Japan’s specialty media stayed silent on Kaga Spa’s operational problems, with a critical look at sponsor relationships and editorial posture.
In extreme heat, supply shortages and transport chaos cascaded into an abnormally high DNF rate. Analyzes the clash between UTMB standards and OSJ’s philosophy.
Synthesizes testimonies on Kaga Spa by UTMB’s operational flaws, highlighting congestion, supply shortages, and DNF-handling confusion, and calls for improvements.
It's been a while, this is Tsutsumi from GO ASIA TRAIL, and on April 11, 2025, I participated in the Explore Your Backyard, a local trail running race held in Tucheng District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. I actually ran this race eight years ago in April 2017.
RUN + TRAIL Vol. 64", a magazine specializing in trail running, will be on sale today (December 27, 2023), and features an article titled "Discover the Fascinating Asian Races! I also contributed two pages to this feature article.
However, since ahamo appeared in March 2021, several Japanese services have introduced plans that allow overseas data roaming as is for a monthly fee. However, since ahamo was introduced just as the Corona Disaster was happening,
I participated in the SEOUL 100K trail running race held in Seoul, Korea on October 21-22, 2023. This was my first race in Korea since TransJeju in 2018. And it was also my first visit to Seoul myself.
Analysis of the Strengths of the Urban-Style Event for the Hiroshima Wangan Trail: Focusing on Access and Accommodation Advantages
Following last year's race, I ran the Akiyoshidai Karst Trail Run again this year. Last year's race was my first time visiting and running in Akiyoshidai, and I wanted to go back again this year because of the spectacular view unique to the karst plateau and the great view from "Ryugo Peak" at the end of the race.
In this day and age when thick-soled, carbon shoes are the mainstream, I prefer barefoot shoes that go against the current trend. This is partly because thick-soled, soft-cushioned shoes do not suit my feet, but I have been running in barefoot shoes for more than 10 years. This includes the period from January 2020 to January 2023,
XTERRA Taiwan 2023 参戦記。台北経由で墾丁へ移動し、トレイル部門を走破。旅程と現地の様子を記す。
I have been a Decathlon Ambassador for about three years since January 2020, but I chose to end my Ambassador contract this term without renewing it.
This is a continuation of the following article I wrote last time. Although the last review was about running Taiwan Sandals for trail running on the road, this time I would like to summarize my impressions when I ran in the mountains.
If you are a trail runner in Japan, you may have once wondered why there is no by UTMB race in Japan. The following races in Asia near Japan have already been designated as by UTMB (as of March 2023).
Prior to the coronavirus, entry to any marathon was by lottery, and it was not always possible to run. However, when the new coronavirus raged around the world in 2020, marathons around the world were either cancelled or drastically scaled back (for elite runners only), and I suspect that the opportunities to run a marathon were greatly reduced for the next three years.
Taiwan Sandal was introduced in October 2021. The following article is still popular on this site. It is currently the most accessed article on this site, and is ranked second in Google's search rankings, which is thought to be the reason for the large influx of visitors to this site.
The following Yahoo article inspired me to describe this article. The main character of this article, Yuri Suzuki, calls himself an "overseas marathon collector," so I guess I am like an "Asian trail version" of him.
五月山動物園のNFT施策を紹介。収益化と地域PRの観点でメリットと課題を整理する。
When it comes to runners and trail runners, I believe that a GPS watch is one of the indispensable items. My first GPS watch was a Garmin Forerunner series. After that, I used the Suunto Ambit, EPSON's Wristable GPS for Trek, and for the past 3-4 years, I have been using a GPS watch made by Amazfit, a Chinese smartwatch brand, because of its cost-effectiveness.
The long new coronavirus, which began in December 2019, closed the road to overseas travel for three years. After a long period of endurance, the ban on inbound travel to Japan will be lifted in the fall of 2022, and Taiwan will resume accepting tourists from October 13, 2022, as if to coincide with the ban (some restrictions apply; notification will be made in late September 2022).
In this issue, we discuss the running sandals that are currently popular in the Taiwanese running community.
Twenty-one people were killed in the trail running race "Huanghe shilin baigongli yue yao yao sai" held in Gansu Province, China, from May 22 to 23. According to reports, there were abnormal weather conditions such as hail, freezing rain, and strong winds at high elevations (20-30 km).
It has already been a year since I last visited Taiwan. For the past year or two, it was normal for me to travel to Taiwan three or four times a year, but due to the new coronavirus, I have been practically unable to travel there. I am experiencing Taiwan loss or some sort of withdrawal symptoms, so recently I often hang out with Taiwanese people living in Japan and visit Taiwanese restaurants.
I started using Freeletics during the Golden Week holidays in May of this year. At that time, I was in the middle of a declared state of emergency. The gym I was going to was temporarily closed until the end of May, and the Corona police were working online/offline, so it was not an atmosphere where I could casually run outside. I wondered if there was a way to get a hard workout in at home, and I ended up with Freeletics.
It has been a while, but I am doing well. To be honest, the new coronavirus has left me with nothing to write about. Races in Asia have been postponed or cancelled across the board, and although there are plans for autumn and winter, there have been decisions here and there to cancel full marathons in Japan...so even if I do make it to the races, I am not sure if I will be able to travel to Japan.
A notice to all of you. I am pleased to announce that I have been appointed as an ambassador for the French sports brand DECATHLON.
this is the first time I have DNS'd in an overseas race after making it to the area. I was very disappointed, although I had hoped to actually run the race and report back to you all. I was not able to run in a foreign country, so it was a trip to recuperate and see the sights.
Last Saturday (May 11, 2019), I participated in THE BEAST TRAIL, a trail race held near Taipei, Taiwan (New Taipei City) THE BEAST TRAIL is a trail race in Taiwan that has been discussed several times on this site. It can be translated as "beast trail.
April 19-21, 2019 I participated in the Dalian 100 越野赛 (English name: DALIAN 100 Ultra Endurance Race), a trail race held in Dalian (Dalian/Dalian), China (the race name is hereafter referred to as the Dalian 100). The Dalian 100 is a race in China that I have wanted to participate in for a long time, and this race was featured in RUN+TRAIL vol. 35, which was released at the end of February.
Day 3 of the Formosa Trail. From 9:00 a.m., there will be a ceremony (awards ceremony), dancing, food (roasted whole pig, noodles, etc.), beer, and so on. The Formosa Trail is fun even after the run. You will not be bored until the end. You can drink beer in the morning ( ´´cause you can´´).
Continuing from the previous article, regarding the Formosa Trail that I recently participated in. This article is about the race day on December 1. The Formosa Trail is the last race of the year for me.
I participated in the Formosa Trail (English: Formosa Trail; Chinese: 福尔摩沙古道), a trail running race held in Puli, Taiwan, for three days from November 30 to December 2, 2018. The Formosa Trail has five categories: 104 km, 65 km, 40 km, 16 km, and 8 km, and I entered and participated in the 40 km race.
I ran TransJeju, a trail running race held in Jeju Island, South Korea last week, October 20-21, 2018. Although I DNF'd at the 73.5km mark due to a knee injury, I would like to report on what I heard from other runners.
The day after XTERRA TAIWAN, I traveled to Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city, to visit Decathlon's Fengshan branch.
In this article, we will write about the race from the start to the finish line. (The article of the first part is below.) On race day, the forecast called for a high of 29 degrees, cloudy and sometimes sunny. However, I felt that it was about 35 degrees Celsius. The humidity was high, there was almost no wind, and the sun was strong. The conditions were not suitable for running.
On September 29, 2018, I participated in the XTERRA TAIWAN trail running race in Ken Ting, the southernmost tip of Taiwan, which I briefly reported on my Facebook page, but I hope to be able to tell you more about it on my blog.
This is my third TransLantau after 50km in 2016 and 100km in 2017.I entered the 100km again this year and came to Hong Kong Lantau Island. Unfortunately, I ended up abandoning the race at CP2 at the 19km mark. Now, what happened to me...
Well, I have participated in the Ultra Trail Tai Mo Shan (環大帽山越野), a trail race in Hong Kong during the year-end and New Year holidays. This event has three categories: 100 miles, 115km, and 50km, and I participated in the 115km TTF (Tsuen Wan, Ta Shek Wu, Fo Tan).
A Japanese woman who participated in Ultra Tour Mt. Siguniang (Four Girls Mountains) held in Tibet, Sichuan, China, has contributed the race participation report.
I ran the TransLantau 100 in Lantau Island, Hong Kong from March 10-12, 2017. I successfully completed the race and finished the long journey in 28 hours, 48 minutes, and 28 seconds. It was a harder race than I had imagined.
A friend of mine who is from Tohoku and lives in Kanazawa came to Osaka for a visit. When he ordered a set meal at a set meal restaurant in Osaka, he thought the placement of miso soup (soup bowl) was different.
The last race of 2016 was in Taiwan.I ran the Taipei Marathon on December 18, 2016.I arrived in Taipei on the night of 12/17 and enjoyed Taipei until Monday, 12/19.
It's been a week since I ran the Eiger Ultra Trail E101, and although I gave a brief report on Facebook, I wanted to report again on this blog: ・・・・
I participated in the TransLantau, a very popular trail race in Hong Kong held on March 11-12, 2016. This was my first overseas race and it was a very good experience and a great memory.
On October 24, 2015, I went trail running in Pingxi, Taiwan. This event was organized as an alternative to the cancelled ULTRA Taiwan trail running race. The event could not be held due to a landslide on the surrounding trails caused by a typhoon.