Izu Trail Journey with John Ray Onifa and Hisashi Kitamura

This Sunday’s Izu Trail Journey promises to be one of the best of recent years with last year’s stars Koken Ogasawara and Hirokazu Nishimura challenged by a large number of domestic contenders - including Hisashi Kitamura - plus John Ray Onifa, who will aim to become the first non-Japanese man to win the classic 70km race across the Izu Peninsula. The 2023 ATM Champion from the Philippines is no stranger to Japan, and with the weather forecast showing uncharacteristic rain for race day, his chances of success may increase even more.

Veronika Vadovicova (2019) and Eszter Csillag (2023) already managed to win the women’s Izu race, but so far no “foreign man” has come really close to beating the local elites. John Ray Onifa, in excellent shape the past months, could just be the right man to accomplish this feat. It’s a course and a distance that suits him very well, and he finished ahead of last year’s race winner Koken Ogasawara at the latest world championships in Spain. While not every race is the same, it’s fair to assume that Ogasawara was not in Spain to enjoy a nice holiday either. Although Onifa has been around winning races in Hong Kong and Asia for several years now, a win this Sunday “in the lion’s den” could elevate his international standing still quite considerably. Last year, Ogasawara and Nishimura - also a former winner of this race - finished about a minute apart in 6h00. With rain expected, finishing times may be slower by default. The mid-section of ITJ has several technical downhill sections. With temperatures very moderate for the time of year and some slipping and sliding expected, Onifa could not wish for ‘better’ conditions for himself. One contender who knows Onifa like the back of his hand is Hisashi Kitamura. A regular participant in ITJ, he has never managed the top five (his best was sixth), but Kitamura has had several outstanding runs this season in Japan - including race wins. Let’s see if he can get closer to Nishimura, Ogasawara, Yuya Kawasaki, Kento Tamura and the like this year.

In the women’s race eyes will be focused on 2022 winner and last year’s runner-up Honoka Akiyama. A year ago, she put up a great effort against China’s Xiang Fuzhao but had to settle for second place. Natsuki Tomii , third on the podium last year, will be one of her rivals for the victory.

ITJ is attracting ever more international runners. Also ATM Grandmasters Alfredo Reyes Jr (Golden Grandmaster). Trevor Lim, Mario Yap, Nick Pilapil and Julie Mae Marquez are running tomorrow.

You can follow the race live on Asia Trail Master facebook and Youtube as usual with the race start at 6am local time (5 am Hong Kong/Manila time)