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Hasetsune - The biggest badass mountain race you've still never heard of.

Published by
Maximus   Oct 23rd 2014, 7:35pm
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by MAX on OCTOBER 23, 2014

Konichiwa

 

This trip was going to be a good cultural experience. Going in not knowing the course or being prepared (at all) for what lay ahead, it was an experience to suffer through and feel a sense of accomplishment, not to be the first across the line (although that would have been nice too.). 

You don’t really realize how much the Japanese are into cats, yes cats, until you travel with self-described “crazy cat lady” Amy Sproston. They are really into cats here. They’re everywhere. Stickers, logos, sculptures, pumpkin heads, cafés. nothing wrong with it, just funny. They are also notorious from eating everything that comes from the sea, much of which you’re not even sure what it is unless you have a guy like Daigo showing you around and helping us by explaining what to do and what not to do, like wearing shorts at a Japanese Onsen (hot springs). That’s what the small towel they gave me at check in was for, hiding your stuff. But lets face it, it’s a little inadequate and silly to even pretend that does anything.
Every time I visit Japan I remember how gracious, kind and hospitable the people here are and it’s why I love to come back. Aside from the fantastic dining experiences, beautiful scenery of the mountains, it’s the people that really make the trip worth it. This time I came to race the classic Japan mountain race, the Hasetsune Cup. It is 72km of beautiful and brutal forested ridgeline outside Itsukaichi.
The race was started in 1992 as a memorial for fallen alpinist Tsuneo Hasetsune and I thought before coming over that it was a little odd to honor an alpine climber with a trail race in a fully forested area outside Tokyo. But not too far into the race, like 5km in, I realized that this is much more a mountain adventure than I had ever imagined.

The lack of alpine environment did not discourage or prevent the organizers of the first event from including some of the most difficult footing I’ve encountered during a race, or from including and astounding 15,000ft of climbing in just 44 miles. As you can imagine, 44 miles and that much elevation doesn’t leave a lot of ground to run anything flat or for the hills to be at all gradual either.
I will never believe a word Amy ever says again because of the last words out of her mouth before the start of the race. She leans to me and says, “The last 10km are all nice and the first 30km are all runnable”. Wow, was that a false statement if I’ve ever heard one. She realized her mistake about 2km…then again at least 30more times before we got to 30km, that one of her mantras during the race would become “Max is going to kick my ass”. I knew I was in trouble when I started hurting…at 10km. There is a lot I could have done to better prepare myself for this race, I just didn’t know any better.

Hasetsune is also interesting because of it’s 1pm start time, insuring runners will spend almost half the race in the dark of the forest. With adequate lighting this isn’t that much of an issue but it does throw in another difficulty on top of the terrain and lack of aid stations. Oh yeah, aid stations, there are none. Sticking true to a mountaineer’s plight of having no aid stations and having to carry everything with them, Hasetsune requires you to carry everything you will need for the entire race aside from 1.5L of water at 42km. For the front runners carrying 2L to start and all your food isn’t all that bad but I can’t imagine how the runners doing the course in 20-24hrs (the cutoff time) can carry enough water for the duration. My hats off to those who are out there that long.
This was probably the most sustained difficulty race I think I’ve ever done. I’ve done races that have worse footing or just as much climbing at high altitude but none where I’ve had to put it all together and have to endure that amount of torture for that long. That’s why, for 21 year old Ruy, running a 7:01 record by 18min is so damn impressive. Ruy is a young up n’ comer from Shinjuku on the Montrail team and he’s a stud in the mountains. I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do in the coming years both in Japan and internationally.
I ended up “running” a 7:49 for 8th place. It was a hard fought battle with myself just to stay in it mentally.

But, where I failed, Amy prevailed. Amy took home the win with a great run and I did help a little bit in bringing home the overall team title with my teammates Ruy and Shun. Between us, the Montrail Team captured all three Hasetsune Cups this year. What they believe may be a first for the team.

Amy Finishing

This was just funny.

Team Award Podium

The Three Hasetsune Cups

As with any trip abroad part of it is to enjoy and take in the culture of the country you’re visiting and Japan makes for some of the most interesting experiences you can have visiting another country. The dining experience is unparalleled and so much fun. There are lots of places with sushi boats on conveyor belts. The most fun was the Smart Sushi where you order on an iPad, press Order, then it travels on a little car on a track right to your spot, you take it off and send the car back. How cool is that? There’s also the array of other odd looking but usually pretty tasty things that come from various parts of a fish or other sea dwelling animal. Like the flying fish roe, it’s like a party in your mouth. The little eggs pop and they’re so much fun. Then you find a couple stuck in your gums later on and get to do some more popping. Then there’s the shark bone (I don’t recommend), the raw octopus w/ wasabi (it was pretty good), and the fermented soy beans (Nato), which no one likes so I can’t figure out why they put it in stuff.

 

Shark Bone, not good.


Octopus Wasabi, good


Shashimi, good

 

The truly new experience was the Onsen, the Japanese Hot Springs, which after the race felt so good on the legs. This custom I never would have figured out if I hadn’t had Daigo and Ruy to follow through it. First, no shorts, then you bath in a traditional way sitting on a stool, then, it’s to the pools with the small towel to hide everything. We were soaking in the natural mineral waters while watching the low clouds and mist dance off the surrounding mountain in a light drizzle. A pretty amazing experience.

View from the Onsen

It was then back to Tokyo for two days. We were supposed to do a photoshoot but the rain killed that and we took a few photos but kept it to about an hour. Shortest photoshoot I’ve ever done. Back in Tokyo, Amy and I walked the streets and take in the sights (more cats) and eat more sushi. We hung out in 7-Eleven for awhile just poking around because well, it might be 7-Eleven but for us it’s a whole new experience and they have amazing little snack things that are probably just as bad for you there as they are here.

Busy Busy.

From there it was uneventful and relaxing to see Tokyo and make the trip home. It’s always nice to be home but as soon as I landed in Redmond I was off again. A quick lunch with my wife was all the time I would get before heading off to Medford for the inaugural Max King Invitational. I was quite honored to get a call earlier this summer from the XC Coach at my High School and want to name their home meet after me. My first thought was, “I though you had to be dead to get something like that named after you. I hope it’s not the Max King Memorial”. He assured me it was not and wanted me to be down there to start the races. But I managed to get them off and running even though I was falling asleep with the starter pistol in my hand. That 3hr drive home that night was one of the hardest I’ve ever had but sleeping in my own bed that night was sooo nice.
Then it was up early and off to California for the Warrior Dash World Championships. No rest for the weary this week.

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