Looking Back on the 2025 Race – 22 km Challenge!

　The 22 km race was small in distance but big on excitement!
　A total of 218 runners toed the line—171 men and 47 women—and an amazing 216 of them finished (170 men, 46 women), giving us a stellar 99.1 % finish rate. Our oldest finisher? A sprightly 75 years young—what an inspiration! 🎉

Runners came not only from Niigata and neighboring regions like Kanto and Aichi, but also from across the seas—welcome, friends from the Netherlands, Hong Kong, the USA, and Australia!

The Start

Just before the gun, the rain took a quick break, leaving us with plenty of happy, pre-race smiles.

　At 10:30 AM sharp, the field burst onto the course.

The quiet village came alive with the sound of taiko drums and cheering voices — a one-of-a-kind welcome you’ll only find at this aid station.

Into the Wild

From Aid 1 onward, the course becomes a roller-coaster of climbs and descents—challenging on a good day, but add rain and you get mud, slippery roots, and textbook “trail-running spice.” Many of you discovered just how adventurous 22 km can be!
To everyone who flashed us a smile for the camera in those rough stretches—thank you!

　A professional photographer who came to watch the race kindly shared some of his amazing photos with us — we hope you enjoy them!

Aid Station 2 → Finish

One last chance to hose off the mud at Aid 2, then it was a straight shot to the finish—just a little more to go!

And here comes our oldest competitor, steady as ever, making each stride count under the watchful eyes of our staff.

The Finish Line

Congratulations on conquering your 22 km adventure! Here are a few of our favorite finish-line moments, courtesy of our generous pro photographer.

Awards

Hats off to all of this year’s podium finishers!

Thanks for reading all the way to the end!
We’ll be sharing a full gallery of race-day photos as soon as everything is sorted—stay tuned!