Okumusashi Ekiden Course

by Ken Kuroiwa
If you’re willing to travel a bit or can think of it as an excuse to see the fringes of the Kanto area, there are some courses I’d recommend for Mt. Fuji training. Their advantage is that, in addition to being good climbs, they are quite long. The Mt. Fuji summit course is not just a 3006-meter (9862-ft.) climb; it is also a half-marathon long, so endurance and the ability to counter the temptation to just give up, by keeping a reasonable pace, is important. “Reasonable pace” often means a fast walk; maybe not even that. For faster runners, it can be a blow to one’s pride, but the turtle in the fable had the right idea.

Two of the easiest courses to get to and ones that are familiar to many Namban members are the Okumusashi Ekiden course and the Okutama Ekiden course. Being fairly long and fairly gentle ascents, they are good for the early part of Mt. Fuji training, as you let your body get gradually accustomed to the task ahead.

(1) The Okumusashi Ekiden course goes along Route 299 from Higashi Hanno Station to the turn-around point a little before Shomaru Toge Station (distance: approximately 22.5 km.). If you need/want a copy of local area maps, let me know. You can even continue on the course past Shomaru Toge Station, through the tunnel on the walkway, on to Ashigakubo Station (about 30.0 km from Higashi Hanno Stn), or even on to Seibu Chichibu Station (about 36.7 km from Higashi Hanno Stn). I used to use varying distances along this route (39 km. from my place (Moto-Kaji Station, one before Hanno Stn) to Seibu Chichibu Station) to train for marathons.

You can choose any station to stop at and take the train back to Hanno and Ikebukuro (Seibu Ikebukuro Line). Higashi Hanno Stn to Higashi Agano Stn (abt. 10.0 km) Higashi Agano Stn to Agano Stn (abt 5.5 km) Agano Stn to Nishi Agano Stn (abt 4.2 km) Nishi to Shomaru (ekiden) turnaround pt. (abt 2.6 km) Nishi Agano Stn to Shomaru Stn (abt 2.8 km) Shomaru Stn to Shomaru Toge tunnel entrance (abt 1.5 km) Shomaru Toge Tunnel (entrance to exit abt 1.9 mn) Shomaru Tunnel exit to Ashigakubo Stn (abot 4.1 km) (in winter, iceskating rink a bit further on). Ashigakubo Stn to Seibu Chichibu Stn (abt 6.7 km).

It’s a fairly gentle climb, although the Shomaru Station area to the tunnel gets a bit stiff, but somehow, once into the tunnel, I find it easier (but with some fumes, of course, and large trucks roaring by). Every few kilometers, there are small settlements, where the stations are located, a few gas stations, and even an AM/PM convenience store with vending machines to replenish liquids along the entire course.

Although this is one of the longer courses I’ve run for marathon training, it’s quite a pleasant one: the Koma River and the hills and forests make it mentally easier (than, say, the Gotanda to Tamagawa to Noborito (Odakyu Line) roundtrip course I used to train on in town). Also, knowing that the course is long AND uphill, you tend to hold your pace down.

The course peaks as you come out of the far end of the tunnel (distances to either exits are marked every 100 meters), and from there, it’s all a fairly gentle downhill to Chichibu (good to have a map of the Chichibu area for the last couple of km. in town). Once you manage to change gears, you can run at a pretty good clip if you want. The generally gentle descent is not too hard on the thighs. You may run into monkeys along the road just before entering Chichibu City.