Seiseki Sakuragaoka Relay Marathon 2018

Seiseki Sakuragaoka Relay Marathon
Sunday May 27th 2018
Tama City, Tokyo

Seiseki Sakuragaoka is a relatively quiet area 35 minutes from Shinjuku, Tokyo laying right off the Tama river. STRIDE LAB’S shop manager Yasutaka Baba
is the Race Director for the Seiseki Sakuragaoka Relay Marathon which takes place in May and there is also a Santa Claus Christmas version in December!

This May race takes place along the TAMA RIVER just a minute walk away from STRIDE LAB.
The race consists of 3 different main races:

Kids 2000M Race
Young Kids 42.196M Race
41.25KM Relay Race (2.5km segements)

This race has a true neighbor feel to it and this year the weather was beautiful!
Runners checked in at Stride Lab in the morning before heading out to Tama River where the races were taking place.
This year two guest Olympians (Kensuke Takezawa-Beijing/ Mika Yoshikawa-London) came as guest runners/speakers and Kensuke fired the start line gun for the race start.and the kids were off!
It was very fun watching all the kids try their best and finish at the finish line.The next race was the young kids race (Hiyoko)and it was so cute watching the little ones experience one of their first races!In the meantime, the various relay groups were getting ready for the main event of the day, the full marathon relay race segmented into 2.5km sections.

Below is a picture of the course map.

Runners do an out-and-back course along the Tama river.

Relay teams can have anywhere from 4-10 members on each time and runners can run in any order and as many times as they like.

This race started at 10:30AM and the start was very exciting!
Each section of the relay runner carries the sash around the shoulder and passes it off to the next runner at the designated trade-off post.

With ALTRA being a sponsor of this race, they did a shoe try-on event with 6 different models of shoes.There was even ALTRA shoes for sales that the participants could buy at a discount price. Guest runner Takaoka-san also came and was MCing along with running the relay himself. He is a famous barefoot runner in Japan and has wrote a book called Zero Base Running.
There were different local vendors at this event such at TAK Beans Coffee and GARDEN Burger.Runners took turns passing of the sash to their teammates and doing the 2.5km course along Tama River.There was music being played during the event and multiple people MCing as well.This year we had another great turn-out. ALTRA shoes were giving out to some of the winners for the races.Thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work and helping the event come together so well!
Join us for next year!?
And don’t forget to check out information regrading the SANTA MARATHON this December!

TOKYO EAST RUN 30KM

SUNDAY, JUNE 16th 2018
TOKYO EAST RUN 30KM

This was TOKYO EAST RUN’S 1st Annual 30KM run that takes place along the ARAKAWA RIVER on the East side of Tokyo (hence Tokyo East Run).

The company that hosts this event is called Achievement and has an office in Jimbocho, Tokyo. They also have various events throughout the year, have a training gym with a hypoxic running room,  and have a running club with trainers. Check out their website!

http://achv.jp/

From the race start you see Sky Tree right across the Arakawa River!

ALTRA FOOTWEAR JAPAN had a booth with 3 different models of try-on shoes for the runners (Escalante, Escalante Racer, and Torin 3.0).

Even the race director Yuji Yamamoto tried on a pair of the Boston Escalante Racer’s and said how much he liked them.
Here is a picture of the other race director Hayato Aoki course directing the race.
The course was a 10KM out and back  along the river.  Below is a picture of the course map.

The race started at 9:30AM and the runners did a warm-up exercise routine with the pacers before the start.There was 3 different pace groups one for 4min/km, 5min/km and 6min/km.

Here is a picture of the pacers!

It was fun cheering the runners as they came back and looped around the Starting point. There was also a DJ (Mic Bee) playing Western Music  and MCing in English.The overall winner for the men/women caterory each received a pair of ALTRA shoes as a prize.

Age-group winners received a goodie bag that also included DRYMAX socks.

Many runners got to try-on ALTRA shoes for the first time and many of them commented on how comfortable the fit was.

With this year being the first year of the TOKYO EAST 30KM, there was only  about 150 participants but it seems like next year there will be many people!

Check out their facebook page and stay updated with information regarding registration for next year!

https://www.facebook.com/tokyoeastrun/

3 PEAKS YATSUGATAKE-YAMANASHI

3 PEAKS YATSUGATAKE-YAMANASHI
SUNDAY JUNE 10th, 2018
38km and 24km Trail Running Race

3 PEAKS YATSUGATAKE is a set of trail running races in Yamanashi Prefecture on the border of Nagano Prefecture. The YATSUGATAKE Mountain Range is a beautiful technical area of mountains that many hikers/trail runners from around Japan visit to soak in the beautiful views.3 PEAKS trail running races consists of a 38km race and a shorter 24km race.

The race is directed by YUMI MATSUI and works with YAMANASHI trail running shops SUNDAY and MICHIGAMASSUGU

Here are the number breakdown of participants for each race:
38km-250 people
24km- 500 people

Below is the course profile with the long indicated in green.The long course has a fair bit of climbing while the shorter course has a more mild course profile.

At 7AM, the began and the runners made their way from the start on the road to the fun trails ahead of them.ALTRA JAPAN was one of the sponsors of the race so they did a LONE PEAK 3.5 Try-On event at the start area and also sponsored the 3rd aid-station.It was fun to watch runners from both races come through the aid station on their way out and back as they journeyed through the YATSUGATAKE mountains. 
ALTRA staff were there cheering the runners and directing them to the aid-station.

We were also happy to see a large number of runners and volunteers wearing ALTRA shoes!!!For this year’s race, the 3 PEAKS Race Staff decided to give custom made DRYMAX SOCKS to the participants and many of the runners wore them during the race!


It was also very cool to see STRIDE LAB customers doing so well during the race!

The STRIDE LAB members seemed to be in all in good condition!

After the last runners came through aid-station 3, we watched the final runners come through the finish line.

All of STRIDE LAB customers successfully finished their race and for 2 individuals it was their first trail-running race!
This year’s 3 PEAKS race was a great time and thankfully the forecasted bad weather held off.

After the race, staff went out to Yamanashi’s famous Houto Udon restaurant. If you make it Yamanashi, it is a must-try!!!

Feel free to check out the website and register for next year!

http://trail38.com/

See you at YATSUGATAKE!

ALTRA TIME TRIAL SERIES-Tokyo

ALTRA TIME TRIAL SERIES (ATTS) TOKYO

Saturday, August 4th (Evening Start)
Ajinomoto Stadium, Choufu  Tokyo

Set a goal and challenge it at the 5000M Time Trial Event!

The ALTRA TIME TRIAL SERIES is a series throughout Japan where regional runners get together on a track and race 5000m with a selected pacer. This time we even have Beijing Olympic Runner Kensuke Takezawa coming to run as a pacer!

Whether you are a long-distance runner or have only just started jogging, the ALTRA TIME TRIAL SERIES can be your periodic measurement of your (endurance level) and (goal setting) ability.

We post the various nationwide runner’s results so please make use out of being able to check your own time and set goals!Times will be chip recorded including each lap split.

With ALTRA JAPAN hosting this race, they bring a bunch of their demo-shoes for runners to try while running.ALTRA Staff will also be there assisting and providing information about the shoes.Now is your chance to try out ALTRA JAPAN’s new selection of road shoes!Here is schedule for the Time Trial:3:45PM-4:15PM       EVENT TIME

4:20PM Start              Set Pace 25 Minutes-30 Minutes

5:00PM Start               Set Pace 22 Minutes-25 Minutes

5:30PM Start              Set Pace 22 Minutes-25 Minutes

6:00PM-6:30PM       EVENT TIME

6:30PM Start              Set Pace 20 Minutes-22 Minutes

7:00PM Start              Set Pace 20 Minutes-22 Minutes

7:30PM Start              Set Pace 18 Minutes-20 Minutes

7:55PM Start              Set Pace 15 Minutes-18 Minutes

Water will be provided on the course!After the race, enjoy a complimentary cool-down stretch lead by previous Panasonic runner (now personal trainer) Yuko Yada.
Locker rooms are available with free access to showers after your race.

Here is a link to the Japanese website:
https://altratimetrialseries.com/

and for registration:
ALTRA 5km Time Trial Series-TOKYO

Access:
Ajinomoto Stadium West Field
Closest station is the TOBITAKYU Station on the KEIO Line.
Please enter the Stadium on the WEST Side.

If you have any questions regarding the event or how to register, please contact:
info@stridelab.jp
080-9137-3479

We are looking forward to running together!