Oxfam Trailwalker Japan
What do you think about when you hear the word trailwalk? A scenic amble through the countryside? A gentle forest stroll on soft pine-covered paths? Well think again. The Oxfam Trailwalker Japan is a brutal, punishing, unrelenting 100km trek through the mostly mountainous Hakone National Park. Proper mountains — at least four of them are higher than the highest mountain in Ireland (Carrauntoohil 1038m).
I can’t say I hadn’t been warned. Anyone I had spoken to who had done it before told me it was harder than a marathon/ironman/childbirth. So I expected it to be a challenge — it turned out to be much tougher then I had anticipated.
Our four-member team comprised of me, Peter (a banker with a curious obsession with electricity pylons), Gareth (a writer, editor and the world’s most impatient man) and Chika (food ingredient company worker and 5-foot female dynamo).
One of the keys to a successful race is that you know your fellow members pretty well and that you have a broad agreement on the pacing and resting plan. I’ve heard plenty of stories of formally great friends/colleagues having major fall-outs while doing the Trailwalk.
There are a total of nine stages of varying length. Shortest 5.5km, longest 18km. Peter and Gareth who had done it before were in agreement that stage 4 to 5 was probably the toughest. It’s one big climb and a very long steep decent — done at night. It was hard, but they didn’t mention between stage 7 and the finish we would be doing some of the steepest climbs of the event, including Mt. Mikuni, 1343m just a few kilometers from the finish.
Our team ended up spending more than half of the walk with the Namban girls team. (Mary, Jaynie, Caroline and Susie) There was lots of chat and laughs along the way, well at least until Checkpoint 7 near the 80k mark. At this stage we had been nearly a full day on the go and the sun had come up. I hobbled down to the large community centre with Mary. We were in bits. I knew we had planned a bit of a longer break here with even a chance of a short nap, but I was starting to have doubts I would be able to finish at all.
We stayed there for close to two hours, including about 30 minutes lie down for me. We were met by the great Namban support crew who fed and watered us. When it came time to lace up the shoes again I wasn’t looking forward to it, but once we got moving a bit I felt quite refreshed.
As we crossed the final, final, final f-ing hill there was a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji in front of us, but I didn’t care. The pain and discomfort in my legs was nearly becoming too much. Over the last 40km or so, every step down sent shockwaves of pain through my lower legs. Writing this a full week later I can still feel discomfort, especially behind my right knee.
We crossed the line in 29:14. We were 20th out of 133 teams to finish. The goal had been to go sub-30hrs so we were happy with that. We were treated to beer and champagne which tasted so good. I’m not a great sleeper as a car passenger but I was completely conked out for the few hours drive back to Tokyo.
Since the event I’ve spoken to some of the faster finishers and although running/jogging parts of the course will take it’s own toll, being constantly on your feet for closer to 20hrs instead of 30hrs has advantages.
A huge thing in our favour this year was the weather. From beginning to end it was perfect. Reports from the previous couple of years were of constant rain and freezing cold. I can’t imagine how much worse that would have made it.
So it was a great experience, a great challenge — the scenery was beautiful and often breathtaking — but not something I’d like to do again. It’s the easy marathon life for me from now on.
In the end we raised a total of UK2599. A big “Thank you” to everyone who supported us and made a donation. Here is a link to a few photos I took on the day.
