ALEX
SCHUBACH

A fast, high-energy race set in Meiji Jingu Gaien, built around Japan’s iconic Ekiden relay format. Teams pass the tasuki and rotate through short, ~1.2km laps to complete the half marathon distance together .

This format makes it sharp, tactical, and intense. No cruising, just repeated bursts of speed and constant team pressure. Short, fast, and uniquely Japanese.

Three weeks ago I tore my hamstring racing in Hiroshima. Not ideal, but after a bit of forced recovery and time off, I was back this week and the body feels good again.

I'm feeling strong, fit, and most importantly light, lean, and agile. No expectations other than showing up and doing my best for the team. Ideally I’d run the 1.2km loop at sub 3:00/km pace, in 3:30 flat, but we’ll see what I can pull out of the bag when the time comes.

This Ekiden format is simple. 18 x 1.2km efforts, as a team, over and over. In my mind, I’ll break it into 400m sections and just do my job - absolutely send it, again and again and again. Honour the sash and don’t let the team down.

Ekiden racing is just something else in Japan. The energy, the teams, the atmosphere. You can feel how deep the running culture is here.

Today the racing was short, sharp, and intense. I was lucky to be part of Namban's top team, Shoryuken, and I executed the plan as intended. Broke the 1.2km into three 400m efforts. Fast out the gate, quick turnover in the legs, relaxed up top, and committed all the way through. 3:00 min pace secured.

Last 200m was about staying committed and getting the tasuki ready for a clean handover. 1st overall for the team. Great experience. Keen for the next one.

First crack at the 50km distance. The Hiroshima Trail race takes you through the forested mountains surrounding Hiroshima, with a solid mix of runnable ridge lines, technical descents, and the kind of sustained climbing that separates the people who trained for it from the people who thought they did. A big step up in distance from Nikko and the Hatsune 30k.

This is my first ultra. 50km with nearly 3,000 metres of elevation. It’s going to be a proper test, and that’s exactly what I want. The build hasn’t been perfect, but the work is done. There’s some wear in the ankles, but that’s part of it. I’m fit, I’m prepared, I’m ready to find out where my limit is, and I'm ready to go to war.

The plan is simple. Move efficiently early, make the most of the flats, then get to work when the course turns uphill. No hesitation on the descents. Target time is 6:30. I’ll be pushing for a strong ITRA result against a serious field.

At this distance, comfort disappears fast. The body fights and the mind looks for an exit. That’s when the race really starts. Stay in it, and hold your ground. Keep moving when everything tells you to stop. The standard must me maintained.

I don’t know where I’ll finish, but I know how I’ll race. All-in from start to finish.

First ultra. No safety net. Time to get to work.

6:42:24. First ultra. 4th overall. First non-professional athlete across the line. Nearly 7 gruelling hours in the mountains and I stayed in it the whole way. The course was relentless. Long, steep climbs and technical descents that just kept coming. No breaks, no chance to switch off. The legs held, but it’s clear there’s another level of strength and conditioning needed to handle that kind of workload.

Fueling was the biggest battle. Too much sweet food and it caught up with me mid-race. Nausea, stomach turning, energy dipping. Had to manage it on the fly and keep moving anyway. Not perfect, but I got it done.

First ultra and it showed me exactly where the gaps are. Stronger legs, better fueling, tighter execution. Now it’s about continuig the build.
4 weeks to Hong Kong Hyrox. Time to sharpen things up, fix the mistakes from past races, and go again. Third time’s a charm. LFG.

One of the most famous and respected trail races in Japan, and for good reason. The Hasetsune Cup has been running for nearly three decades and draws some of the best trail runners in the country. 30km through the mountains of Akiruno with over 2,000m of climbing, minimal aid, and zero room for a bad day. No crew, no shortcuts, just you and the mountain. First time on this start line, and the reputation of this race has been well earned. A serious bucket list tick.

The famous Hatsune 30K Cup. Excited for this one.

Starting in the last wave again, 6th of 6, with around 1,500 runners ahead. Course recon last week confirmed mostly single-file trail, so congestion starting from the back will be what it will be. After this race the UTMB and ITRA indexes should be locked-in, and that problem goes away for good.

Ran 4:47 over 35km with 2,300m of elevation at Nikko, so the target here is around 4 hours for 30km with 2,000m. We'll see what the day brings.

Pacing strategy is standard trail now. Attack the flat opening road section. On the climbs, hold a comfortable run and keep the HR low. Power hike when it spikes, run again as it drops. Keep the legs fresh for the descents, and don't hold back. In the final kilometres, whatever happened earlier in the race is done, give an honest effort to the line.

4:47:07 on the clock, with a total moving time of 4:11. Three separate occasions where the race was stopped completely and every runner had to queue due to trail congestion. Each stoppage around 20 -30 minutes. Starting in the last of six waves made that unavoidable. No real complaints given the context, but the logistics of this race could be better organised.

Happy with the effort overall. Nutrition strategy held up well throughout. I was uncotrollably sick for the two weeks leading into this race so getting to the start line feeling better and being able to compete was a win in itself.

After this I should have an ITRA index, which means starting near the front from here. Now it's about building real volume into the legs. The Hiroshima 50k is a fortnight away, so the focus is staying fit, healthy, and getting after it!

My first UTMB series race, held in the stunning Kenting National Park at the southern tip of Taiwan. A 27km course with only 600m of elevation gain, which sounds gentle until you're navigating dry riverbeds, rocky single-track, and back-to-back peak sections in tropical heat. Part road, part jungle, fully worth it.

First ever UTMB series race. New environment and a proper test in the heat and technical terrain. Excited for this one.

Starting in wave two with no UTMB index yet. That changes after today. Easy speed on the road, run what I can on the climbs, power hike when needed, and let it rip on every descent. The elevation gain is only 600m across the whole course, so 2 hours is the target. The winner last year went 2:05.

Stay patient early. Make smart decisions, and back myself when it matters. Let's get it done!

2:19:07. Not the two hours I was chasing, but I’m proud of that effort. A solid result that shows exactly where I stand in this field.

Preparation was close to perfect. Travel, reconnaissance, morning routine, nutrition, all dialled. Race strategy executed well and I stayed composed through the race.

Gaps are clear. Late prep the night before, missing equipment, and carb planning needs precision. Biggest limiter is volume and technical experience. More trail, more mountains, stronger legs.

Now it’s about building the engine and the skillset. Single-leg strength work. The result told me I belong in these races. The prep will now match that. LFG.

One of Japan's most iconic marathon courses, winding through the streets, temples, and riverside paths of Kyoto. A sold-out race with a deep field and incredible atmosphere. My first ever official marathon distance, and the A-race of the first half of 2026.

First ever official marathon. The goal: get out there, have fun, and get a benchmark.

Starting right at the back of a nearly 13,000-person field, so the strategy is built around that.

First 10km, ease in and find open space. Second 10km, lift the effort and settle into 4:14min/km. Third 10km, push to threshold pace around 4min/km and make up some time. Final 10km, it's all mental. No marathon training, no long runs in the bank - I don't know how the legs will react at this distance, but the answer is simple: don't give up.

"Only you can know what an honest effort is."

Target time: sub-3 hours would be excellent. LFG.

2:56:19. Under three hours on debut. But this race was messier than the time suggests. A proper fight from start to finish.

First 13km was chaos. Weaving, overtaking, wasting energy. My fault for starting at the back. Around 15km it opened up, settled into 4:00/km and held it. Then the last 7km… the legs just went. Cramping, heavy, nothing left. Just get to the line.

The truth is simple. Not enough volume in the legs. No long runs. The fitness was there, the base wasn’t. That’s on me. Good lessons. All fixable.

Volume goes up. 70km weeks. Sub-2:50 is next.

The Osaka edition of the global Hyrox series, competed in the Men's Open division. 8 x 1km runs, 8 x functional fitness stations, one continuous grind. After the Yokohama benchmark, this was the first real crack at going fast and clean through a full Hyrox race.

This is redemption. First real crack at Hyrox after Yokohama. I know the movements now. I know the format. Time to execute properly and see what I’m capable of.

Run 4:00/km on every 1km. Move clean through the stations with a 5-minute buffer in the rox zone. Target: 60 minutes. Ambitious, but that’s the point.

Stay locked in and stay sharp. No mistakes, no guessing. Execute the plan and trust the preparation. Let’s see what’s there.

1:05:02. Copped a 6-minute penalty on the sled push. Honest headline: didn’t track the distance properly. That’s a preparation failure, not a fitness failure.

Pacing strategy worked well. 4:00/km runs felt controlled and comfortable. The engine is there. That’s clear.

What’s missing is precision. Know every station, every distance, every weight before the start line. Clean up sled pull, burpees, lunges, wall balls, and compromised running. Fix the details and the time drops.

A fun, fast city ekiden through Yoyogi Park. Short legs, big energy, serious crowds, and the kind of race where you hand a sash to a teammate and immediately wonder if you could have gone harder. Racing with the Namban crew makes it something special.

After competing in my first ekiden with Namban last year, I was hooked! The whole ekiden expereince in Japan is something else! Big crowds, serious runners, and the team atmosphere just makes for such a fun and unique racing expereince!

Familiar territory in Yoyogi Park. Short leg, just under 3km. Simple job. Go hard from the start and hold it. Target: sub-9 for 2.9km. LFG!

9:20. Faster than a Sunday jog but not what I was after. The honest truth is the preparation was not right for race day. Running 70km that week, plus a full leg session and hill sprints the day before, meant the legs had nothing left to give.

No excuses. I put myself in that position. Lessons are clear. Proper 20-minute warm-up is non-negotiable. Course reconnaissance matters. And respect the taper, even for a 2.9km leg. A short race still deserves proper preparation. Fun day out with the Namban crew regardless.

The perfect way to kick off the new year - a flat, fast half marathon through Tokyo with a big, buzzing field and the kind of January energy that makes you feel like anything is possible. Part festive, part serious. In 2026 this doubled as a Kyoto marathon prep race, using it to dial in marathon pace and see where the fitness was sitting after the holiday period.

Back from Hawaii and a beautiful Christmas and New Year trip with the whole family - we hadn't all been together like that since my sister graduated from Harvard back in June. I trained like a maniac every single day over the break and came back to Tokyo feeling fit and sharp.

Also, I'm one year sober this weekend. What a time to be alive! And, what a way to mark it. God, it feels so good to feel SO good.

This is pacing practice for Kyoto. Lock into 4:14/km and aim for 1:29:19. Get a real feel for marathon pace in a race. If the legs are there late, lift. If not, stay controlled. No pressure. Stay relaxed and trust the rhythm. Don’t force anything. Let the race come to you. But if the moment opens up, take it and have some fun!

The race took over in the best possible way. Went out in 4:08. The crowd, the atmosphere, one year sober, a Sunday morning in Tokyo doing exactly what I want to be doing. 1:21:11. A proper run.

Felt strong and made the call early to commit. 4:00, then 3:45–3:50 and held it. No hesitation. Fast course, perfect conditions, and I leaned into it when it opened up.

No real gaps here. This was instinct, execution, and backing myself. The plan changed mid-race and I trusted it.

My debut marathon is Kyoto is looking good. Sub-3 is the goal.