All Posts • Charles Harries

Tuesday, 18 Oct 2022 9:30 am
2015 Gokibiru 30K trail run
On 18 October 2015 (7 years ago today!), I participated in a trail run from Atsuta Town to Gokibiru Town and back—30 kilometers. I didn't do it particularly quickly, but I did it, and I think that at the time (as now) I'm more proud of it than I am of the Okhotsk Marathon, which I'd run a couple weeks earlier.

I know that, with time, I'm going to forget the details—so I'm writing them down now to hold on to as long as I can.

It started reasonably early in the morning; we all gathered at the starting line. I’d filled my Camelbak with Aquarius instead of water, and my backpack was full of SoyJoys. I was wearing my green Brooks Cascadia 10s, which I’d gotten especially for this occasion, and which, 800 km later, I still wear sometimes; and my red Salomon backpack, which I still use for bike riding and other light-backpack applications.

I don’t remember feeling outclassed the way that I do nowadays whenever I’ve done a trail running event (Causey Pike, etc). We first ran up a hill, then down the back; then back up the hill and down the front, before a long run along the seafront.

A little while in we came to a layby, where the Gokibiru Sandou started: a steep climb up into the forest and then a long run along a trail heavy with leaves; I guess we were getting on for fall and the leaves were turning.

I don’t remember a lot about the run out to Gokibiru; at one point I had to cross a stream and for some reason it didn’t occur to me that I could put my feet in the water and I faltered while the marshal told me to just run through it. A little ways further on it occurred to me that we were using the trails that maintenance crews use to access power lines.

Further on still I saw the leaders coming back the way they’d gone; I had the presence of mind at least to get out of their way as they came racing down the hill—they had more claim to the trail than I did, by virtue of their raw pace, I figured.

The long descent into Gokibiru was rough on the knees, being made up of rounded-off stones; and then a little loop through the town where, at a set of fold-out tables erected by the elderly of Gokibiru itself, I drank probably more than my fare share of lukewarm Ribbon Napolin before continuing. The glucose would have been really good for me but the carbonation not so much.

The climb back up into the hills was rough and I lost some ground to a guy who’d stuck nearby throughout most of the run; it turns out that he was a photographer from Yubetsu, whose services I’d use a few months later when renewing my passport.

I don’t remember much of the run back. The weather started to turn just as I was nearing Atsuta Town—a light bit of rain. Coming back down off the hill was awful on my ankles, which were just about shot by then. I remember running along the seafront mostly on my own—everyone ahead had taken off, and everyone behind had fallen back. There were surfers out on the sea, I remember: people coming in off the waves and peeling wetsuits off next to Toyota Hiaces with the doors wide open, parked alongside the road.

When I finished—I don’t remember the finish itself—I went into a gymnasium to record my arrival. It took me only 2 minutes less to run the 30 km than it took me to run the 42 km of the Okhotsk Marathon a few weeks earlier. Afterwards I drove back to Asahikawa to be with Sam.
The only picture of me from that day, taken by the Yubetsu photographer and given to me when he took my passport headshots a month or so later
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March 2022

Hybrid online/offline transactions
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2016

February 2016

Naei-zan (那英山)
12
Climbing Naei-zan in Kami-Furano by snowshoe with Sam and a couple of buddies.

January 2016

Okirika-yama (冲里河山)
28
Climbing Okirika-yama, just outside of Fukagawa, by ski in the wintertime.
Kitoushi-yama (鬼斗牛山)
20
How to climb Kitoushi-yama, a small hill just north of Asahikawa, in the wintertime.
Abandoned bus in a field
19

2015

December 2015

Abandoned home
16
Coming across an abandoned home. Nanowrimo 2015.

November 2015

Beach to town
18
Walking from the beach into town. Nanowrimo 2015.
A rural Japanese elementary graduation
5
A grade 6 graduation at Kaisei Elementary School.

2014

August 2014

Week 104
14
A visit to Tsuru-no-yu at Nyuto Onsen in Akita Prefecture. I sit in a very hot bath far longer than is considered normal.

July 2014

Week 101
24
Climbing Tomuraushi with Tony over two days and running out of water on what was maybe the best walk I've ever done.

2013

December 2013

Week 66
20
My first real trip out to Shiretoko, touring of the Five Lakes district in the late fall.

November 2013

Week 65
20
Climbing Yotei for the first time, alone in the early winter, and being absolutely floored by the beauty.
Week 64
6
Twenty-fourth tour round the sun and I'm still enamoured of the autumn.

October 2013

Week 62
30
Climbing Kogane-yama out west with Jordan, padding out the post with a bunch of rubbish about steep dropoffs
Week 61
7
Running 10 kilometres in Okoppe.
Week 60
7
Random stuff I overheard on The Bus in Honolulu.
Week 59
7
Driving over Ukishima-toge on the way back from Asahikawa to Takinoue

September 2013

Week 57
9
My first long distance ride, to the Northern Welcome Party in Nakagawa
Week 56
4
Running in the 10km Biei Healthy Marathon, riding my bicycle to Monbetsu and back, remembering Canada Days with the Boutins.

August 2013

Week 55
26
Camping down south, at one of the welcome parties I think, coinciding with the Jigoku-matsuri in Noboribetsu.
Week 54
19
Driving home from Tony's house in the rain.
Week 53
15
Driving down south, visiting the Jozankei sex museum, sleeping in the Matsumae Michi-no-Eki parking lot

July 2013

Week 50
29
Climbing Tokachi-dake with Emma and Oliver.
Week 49
16
Climbing Teshio-dake with Tony and Oliver, visiting an abandoned school on the outskirts of Monbetsu.
Week 48
9
Driving north from Asahikawa with the windows down.
Week 47
1
A brief interlude at the top of the Nissho Pass, driving with Tony down to some event in the southwest.

June 2013

Week 45
20
Returning to Shari after the abortive attempt the previous fall, a trio of Kiwis and I summit in glory.
Week 43
3
The first day of summer, coming surprisingly late to northeastern Hokkaido.

May 2013

Week 40
13
Oliver let me tag along on an excursion to see what was left of the rail line that used to run through Yubetsu.
Week 39
4
I drove Penelope the AZ-Wagon around the whole perimeter of Hokkaido to see what else was out there.

April 2013

Week 36
17
Tooling around Maruseppu in Penelope the AZ-Wagon.
Week 35
11
Much ado about melting snow; the gang comes across a pair of abandoned cars.
Week 34
2
The first days of spring are coming to Hokkaido.

March 2013

Week 31
12
Coming back from Pippu, I am struck by the first blue sky I've seen in what feels like months.
Week 30
8
A blizzard strikes Yubetsu.

February 2013

Week 29
26
Skiing at Kurodake and my first visit to the Sounkyo Ice Festival.
Week 28
18
A trip on the icebreaking ship Aurora to see the sea ice on the Sea of Okhotsk.
Week 27
13
Back to Yamabiko-no-taki in wintertime to see the frozen waterfall.
Week 26
5
In Iwamizawa, I experience my first (and thus far only) earthquake, and we drive home through thick snow.

January 2013

Week 25
28
A bit about Hokkaido in the dark on a quiet evening.
Week 24
22
Going out skiing at Piyashiri, trying to leave anxiety behind me.
Week 23
16
A brief layover in Osaka on the way back from the States leads to some real soul-searching on trains.

2012

December 2012

Week 19
18
Much ado about a bunch of snow. I guess I'm not used to quite this much snow.
Week 18
13
The night of the rented Higashikawa cabin, and the emotional aftermath.
Week 17
3
The days are approaching their shortest; winter is well & truly here & boy is it dark.

November 2012

Week 16
26
The winter is starting to settle in. I celebrate American Thanksgiving with friends in Monbetsu.
Week 15
19
In which the author rambles a little bit.
Week 14
12
A belated Halloween party, home from which we took the low roads over the mountain passes.
Week 13
5
More urbex at the Kampo-no-yado Sounkyo, a semi-destroyed hotel by the side of the road just outside of Kamikawa.

October 2012

Week 12
29
Konomai, the first time I explored some abandoned infrastructure that marks so much of the face of Hokkaido.
Week 11
23
The first abortive trip up Shari-dake, accompanied by a quartet of Kiwis, ending in a mad rush down the mountainside after hours of beating through the wilderness.
Week 10
15
Yamabiko-no-taki, my first encounter with a higuma, a drive on a forest road, and karaoke with the Monbetsu folks.
Week 9
10
A trip to Nitori, a night in Asahikawa, and a trip to Tenninkyo
Week 8
1
Hauling Renyu on a mikoshi through Kamiyubetsu.

September 2012

Week 7
24
The Sapporo Welcome Party: the Bier Garten, Susukino, A-Life.
Week 6
18
On the relationship between Japaneseness and my foreignness, and remotely about a house party.
Week 5
10
A dairy farm, climbing Meakan-dake, the Eastern Welcome Party.
Week 4
3
The Northern Welcome Party in Kembuchi.

August 2012

Week 3
29
Arriving in Japan, Tokyo Orientation, the train up to Yubetsu, and my first days at work.