Ohyama Tozan Climb

I completed the grueling Ohama Tozan run/climb today - 9 kilometers from the center of a suburban Tokyo town to the top of mountain, wherein each kilometer is steeper than the last, and the last 2 kilometers are up stairs.  Believe it or not, this is one of my favorite races in Tokyo.

I have done little hill training recently, though I considered running up the emergency fire stairs at the 52-story Roppongi Hills office building and joining the token hill workout of my teammates.  Instead my plan was to push the relatively flatter first 6k and then hang on for the last 3k up the stairs (when our wave is slowed down anyway by the slower runners from the first wave). 

I think my strategy worked well for me - I went out in 3:30 for the first kilometer and then consistently passed other runners until hitting the 6k mark in 24 minutes at which point I was 8th place among the 500 participants in my division.   

My impression is that there is an "otaku" culture of hill runners who bring the exact opposite strategy to the Ohyama Tozan event - that is they live for the hill portion.  I clambered up the crowded, uneven, rocky stairs as fast as I could and felt like it would be all but impossible to cover the last three kilometers much faster than the 25 minutes it took me.  But in fact 9 runners went by me and the guy next to me at the 6k mark finished a full THREE MINUTES ahead of me.   

I am pleased with my 49:03 finish time and would follow the same strategy next time I do Ohyama unless I have moved up into the mountains by then.   The early stages of my coffee taper probably also took a small toll on my concentration towards the end.