Senba coastal cliff trail running race

Race: Senba coastal cliff trail running race, Race Route (18.1km Middle)
When: January 19th 2025
Where: Kaifugun, Minamicho (JP)

A small friendly local race along the Senba coastal cliff in Tokushima prefecture, Japan.

Race overview #

CategoryDistanceSingle TrackPaved RoadForest RoadCoastalElevation GainCutoff TimeCheckpointsAid StationsShort10.4 km85%15%——890 m2h 10mNoneNoneMiddle18.1 km74%10%2%14%1390 m3h 55m21Long36.5 km71%12%10%7%2833 m8h 43Elite49.6 km68%15%6%11%3856 m8h 15m4 + 1 extra4

My brother and I were looking for a race we could run together in January and found this one randomly online. I’d never been to this part of Japan so we thought it would be a fun weekend trip to do together.

We signed up for the Middle distance which had a mix of paved road, forest trails and some coastal running involving walking/running on slippery rocks, sandy/stoney beach paths and sometimes while knee deep in water.

I flew into Kochi to do some sight seeing around the southern coastal area of Shikoku and it was a 4h drive to the bib-pick up. It was hard to get around without a car although there were some public transports options available. My brother flew into Tokushima which was closer, about a 2h drive to the bib pickup point.

Really enjoyable run on a varied terrain. Also a great excuse to visit parts of Japan I’ve never visited before. Highly recommend running distances over Middle that includes the coastal path which was the most interesting part of the race. It was nice participating as a family and would love to make this type of thing a regular family event :)