Over this last summer I’ve been getting fit and exercising a lot with hiking, swimming and running.
I competed in a swim race earlier on the summer, but August and September are prime running season in Japan with various fun runs and marathons around the country.

I participated in the local fun run last month - the Niseko Marathon festival with the longest distance being a half-marathon.
I opted for the 3.5km fun run. I could have registered for a longer distance, but the week before this fun run, I entered a 10km, so just went for the 3.5km this time. Mind you I cycled 10km to get to the running festival venue, and then after doing the run, cycled back up and down hills another 10km home on a mountain bike.

The local area, as I’ve mentioned before centres around potatoes. Unlike the local Kutchan Potato Festival where I didn’t see a single spud, there were potatoes galore at this event. Every competitor was given a plastic bag to fill up with as many potatoes as one can take.
Ended up with a few kilos of potatoes to take home. Awesome. What other country in the world would you rock up to a running event and get free potatoes.

It was an easy run, only 3.5km. I did it in under 21 minutes which wasn’t too shabby. I think I placed 18th in the 3.5km Open Category.

After the run, there were other festivities to enjoy such as bingo and the Jagaimo Bamba which was basically a race of 5 people.
In the ladies event, four women had to carry on a sled 60kg of potatoes plus one team member. Fastest back to the start line won.
I joined a team of other ladies, and we came first! Luck us, got to take home more free food - this time cobs of corn, juice, and cash!

The day was quite a work out. Cycling back home was no easy feat, this time with about 5 kilos of potatoes, 5 cobs of corn on my back, plus all the other freebies we got for entering the run such as towel, drinks etc.

The last of my physical challenges for the season.