Today's Three: A Swim, a Bike, a Run

3/19/2023

Spring has sprung - and race registrations abound! We've been out of office for some time as we went to race IRONMAN New Zealand and IRONMAN 70.3 New Zealand at Lake Taupo. Big congratulations is in order as one of our athletes not only completed her first full distance...she snagged a slot to Kona in October!

Today, we're taking a look at three very different sports events around Kanto and in Hokkaido.

Yokosuka OWS (Kanagawa)

General Entry: Feb 2-Jun 9, 2023
Late Entry: Jun 10-23, 2023
500m, 1k, 2k, 4x400 relay

Organized by the Japan International Open Water Swimming Association (JIOWSA), this OWS race takes place at Nagahama beach in Yokosuka, Kanagawa prefecture.

JIOWSA hosts more than 20 OWS races between May to November all over Japan with distance categories ranging from 500m to 20km. Aquathlons combining swim and run are also available. English race registration is available via the contact form on the JIOWSA website.

Niseko Classic (Hokkaido)

Registration: Mar 20-May 12, 2023 (FCFS)
15k Time Trial (+102m), 85k (+1,426m), 150k (+2,609m)

In 2022, the Niseko Yotei Fun Ride returned to the schedule of events on a compact scale. No announcement about a fun ride has been made for 2023 as of mid-March. For everything else, English registration is available - easy!

The 150k road race is a punchy course with nearly 8,600ft of climbing. It's shorter 85k counterpart features "only" 4,680ft of ascent. Roads are closed, air is crisp, and competition will be fierce!
The top 20% (formerly 25%) of each age group qualify for the 2023 UCI Gran Fondo World Championships taking place August 4-7 in Glasgow. Note that women (no high schoolers) can only qualify in the 85k road race or time trial. Men in any age group can qualify in the time trial but only men 50 and above can qualify in the 85k road race and men 49 and below can qualify in the 150k road race.

Fuji Mountain Race (Yamanashi)

General Entry: from 2100 on March 20-22, 2023 (FCFS)
16k (+1,480m), 25k (+3,000m)

TL;DR this is a challenging race to get into.
The registration time-frame of two days may seem awfully short, but it's an incredibly popular race and entries are first-come, first-served. However, with at least 50 slots reserved for foreign nationals and English entry available via Runnet Global, there's a higher likelihood of snagging a place on the start line, provided you're not a Japanese national.

It's important to note that entry to the full 25k course is limited to athletes who have completed the 16k in under 2:20 in 2018, 2019, or 2022. This means the vast majority of foreign nationals will be excluded from entry to the full 25k course. The race organizer explicitly state 'wrong' entries will be void, so we don't recommend testing your luck.