GO ASIA TRAIL

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.

My contract as a Decathlon ambassador ended at the end of January 2023.

Decathlon has been one of my favorite brands since before it arrived in Japan, and I always carry Decathlon gear with me when I go on race expeditions and trips in Asia. And for the past year or so, I've continued to use their sacks and clothing for both regular practice and races.

And at the end of 2019, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to become a Decathlon Ambassador starting January 25, 2020. Decathlon is one of my favorite sports brands, so I was very happy when Decathlon told me about it.

Decathlon's slogan, "We make sports accessible for the many," is very similar to my own view of sports. I believe that sports are the spice of life. I believe that sports are the spice of life, that sports are free for all people to start and enrich their lives.

I have experienced many sports since I was a child. I have competed in the following sports

• Swimming
• Badminton
• Tennis
• Archery
• Marathon
• Trail running

As for fun sports, I also play road biking, soccer, table tennis, and yoga. I also use jump rope and strength training (muscle exercises) as part of my daily training.

Actually, when I was in kindergarten and early elementary school, I was not very strong and often missed kindergarten and school. After I started learning swimming at the suggestion of my mother, I stopped catching colds. At the same time, somehow I was able to do well academically. And these experiences are still alive and well in my current main job as an IT engineer. I believe that since human beings are animals, we need to have physical strength and power in order to be able to work and study.

And the experience of achieving a big goal through sports is a real confidence booster. In my case, I was really happy when I FINISHED STY 2014 (92.5km) and I feel I became tougher afterwards. I think these success stories are a great source of energy in our lives.

I have also had the opportunity to visit regions and countries that I have not visited before as part of a sporting event expedition. In the past, I have traveled within Japan, but now I have also traveled abroad in the form of travel runs. I feel that I have gained a lot of inspiration and a richer perspective through this experience. I have also been able to connect with friends and colleagues from all over the world, both in Japan and abroad.

I believe that sports are not for a select few, but for everyone to feel free to start playing. There is no strength or level. Everyone has their own goals and objectives, and we want everyone to feel the joy of achieving them. And I want everyone to enrich their lives through sports. This is what I have felt through all kinds of sports over the years.

These thoughts can also be found in the following article by a Decathlon employee.

https://www.wantedly.com/companies/decathlon/post_articles/134576

• Global store presence
• Hub of the sports world
• Eye-popping cost performance
• Product creation like no other brand, not only cheap, but also focused on customer needs
• Product reliability backed by engineering analysis
• Decathlon's products have the power to excite people.

When I first visited a Decathlon store in Taiwan, I was amazed by the wide selection of products (over 80 sports), the spaciousness of the store, the eye-poppingly low prices, and the unique product manufacturing with a twist that no other brand offers. I was also impressed by the friendliness of the store staff. Decathlon has many elements that will encourage people to take up sports. Even if you are already involved in sports and want to try other sports, you can easily start at Decathlon.

We had hoped to open such a store in Japan, and in March 2019, the first store will open in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture. Until now, the nearest Decathlon was only in Taiwan, but I was very happy to see it in Japan, and in a location easily accessible from Osaka, where I live.

Decathlon's products are not only inexpensive. Perhaps because of the close relationship between the store and the development team, many of the products are unique, with a twist that cannot be found in other brands, based on an assessment of user-friendliness. For example, a duffel bag for storing gear and daily necessities during an overseas expedition. Normally, the bag has a capacity of 40 liters, but it can be expanded to 60 liters by opening the zipper in the middle. When traveling, you often have more luggage on the way back than on the way there, so the design must have taken this into account. I feel that the DNA of this design is applied to all of their products. By the way, this duffel bag is the first Decathlon product I bought.

Also, my favorite product from Decathlon is a 15-liter trail sack called "sac Ultra Trail 15L. I will share the details in another article later, but I also used this sack to run in last year's Dalian 100. I did not experience any stress during the race and loved the ease of use. In the following video of the development story of the Trail Zack, you can see how the product was developed using engineering, and the development designers are all trail runners, so you can see that they love trail running.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kltUJyzBtQw

I have only been with the company for a short time, so I am still thinking about various things. Here are a few that come to mind.

• I want to run with Decathlon ambassadors from around the world.
• I want to interact with ambassadors from other sports.
• I want to do something interesting.
• I want to do some offline events
• I want to debut as a Youtuber ？？？？

I also plan to write about Decathlon in the future through this blog and my social networking sites (Instagram and Facebook). It will mainly be gear reviews. Decathlon is a brand that offers a wide variety of goods for running and trail running as well as travel. I also have many opportunities to travel and go on business trips, especially in Asia, so I think I can disclose my expertise in this area.

So, this is a bit long, but I am happy to report that I have been appointed as a Decathlon Ambassador. GO ASIA TRAIL will become more and more powerful, and I would like to continue to provide you with information on trail races in Asia and race entry reports. Thank you very much. Thank you for your continued support.