Sadogashima is a large island 30 km off the coast of Niigata. It is the perfect size and shape for a middle- and long-distance triathlon. It is a sort of squashed, elongated figure 8 twisted through 45 degrees. It is easier just to look at a map.
The two races which make up Sado International Triathlon are called the A-Race, which is rather longer than a full Ironman, and the B-Race which is somewhat longer than a half Ironman. One of the big attractions is the bike course, which does a complete, 190 km loop of the island for the A-Race, and a 108 km loop of the southern half of the island for the B-Race. It is a spectacular bike course and worth doing the race for that alone. The swim is also excellent. The 2 km course is a stretched triangle which heads straight out from the beach for the best part of a kilometre, turns right for a couple of hundred metres, and then returns to the beach. The A-Race does this twice, the B-Race once. It is unusual in Japan to swim nearly a kilometre straight out to sea, but of course it requires calm conditions. In previous years, the run course has been a long loop through rice fields, but in 2022, the course was simply 7 km up and down the coast road, 6 times for the A-Race, 3 times for the B.
Sado Triathlon is a bucket-list race for many triathletes in Japan. This year was the 26th edition, so much of the organisation is very polished. The bike course is particularly well organised, with volunteers at every junction stopping the traffic, and police at bigger intersections. However, as with many races, it is so hard to find key information. The live race briefing had been replaced with a inadequate YouTube video, and the website is difficult to navigate. Although it is called an “international” triathlon, there is no guidance at all in English. With a whole slew of rules about Covid testing, registration times, and bike requirements, I was relieved to actually get to the start line in one piece. Others were not so fortunate.
There was a good contingent of TiTers doing the race: Mika K, Ken P, Glenn, Yuuka, Duncan, Iyo, Miyuki, and I had all entered the B-Race; just brave Stan did the A-Race. SeungGi came to cheer on Stan and all of us, while Ken O returned to racing as a volunteer.
We all stayed in the Showa era Yahatakan Hotel at which the emperor had stayed way back when. It seemed that little had changed since then. It was a pricey place to stay, but the meals made it worthwhile. Both evenings we dined on a splendid kaiseki feast, all served by cheerful, charming staff. The hotel also has an excellent onsen with a rotemburo beneath the pine trees. The other good thing was that it is a designated race hotel. A huge ground floor room was set up for bike assembly and storage, and there was a big box of towels for cleaning up. There was also a huge dining room set aside for the large number of racers staying there.
The A-Race started on Sunday at 6 am. I watched as the swimmers headed out to the first distant turn buoys, turned right towards the second buoy, and then returned to the beach. I wondered what it would be like to have a mass start of nearly 1000 swimmers. I had never experienced anything like that. At 7:30 it was time to find out. I positioned myself at the far left, one row back from the front, and waited for the start. We were off…but slowly. Unlike Olympic distance, no one seemed to be in much of a rush. For the first ten or twenty metres I waded in shallow water, and then started swimming gently through the clean but murky water. Although there were many others swimming at my pace, I found it impossible to find anyone to draft. As soon as I found some feet to swim behind, they veered off in the wrong direction. I tried over and over again, but each time the same thing happened. In the end, I gave up and just swam at my own pace. At the first turn buoy, I expect a mad crush, but miraculously the crowds parted and I swam alone around the buoy. At the second buoy, we turned into the low morning sun shimmering off the water surface. It was impossible to see much ahead, so I just guided myself by the buoys to my right and the lifeguards to the left.
I came out of the water and checked my pace. I was surprised to see that my leisurely swim had been at a respectable pace of 1.44 per 100 metres. I ran into transition, grabbed my bike, and was out in no time.
Sado is basically two highland areas joined by a wide, flat plain. In the B-Race, we headed north-eastwards across the plain to the port of Ryotsu, continued north-east to Himezaki, before turning southwards for the long coastal ride to the southern tip of the island. We then climbed up and over to the west side of the island for the last 20 kilometres back to the start. It is a splendid ride. The first part across the plain was exposed to a slight headwind, so I had to make do with speeds of 33 or 34 km/h. However, once we turned south and westwards, we picked up a slight tailwind which would have helped if the course was not so up and down. The profile map on the website misses the undulating nature of the course.
I was also not prepared for just how beautiful it is down the east side of the island. The small coastal road links small hamlets in coves separated by rocky headlands. At times it is just a single lane which is interesting when a rare car comes the other way. Sadly, being in the time trial position doesn’t allow much opportunity for sightseeing. Most of the time I was trying to deal with pain and discomfort in my neck and shoulders, relieved by each uphill, aggravated by the long flat stretches.
It was hot on the bike. Much of the road is unshaded, and I started overheating as the race progressed. Fortunately, there were several aid stations handing out bidons and with bottle catchers for empties. The best thing was that the water was icy cold, so I could squirt some in the vents of my helmet and then enjoy the drip drip of cold water on my face. I also managed to eat a gel every 30 minutes. I was trying new Veloforte gels which only have natural ingredients, but they tasted sickly sweet. I was grateful for my regular Amino Vital grapefruit flavour gels which go down very well in a race.
I had put my bike computer on the top of my aero bottle, but I could not see it in the time trial position, so I just had to ride by feel. 108 km is a tricky distance to pace, and with a hot run ahead, I had to be cautious. Several people overtook me down the coast road, but I could catch glimpses of some of them off in the distance. Once I got to the first big climb over to the west side of the island, I quickly caught and passed most of them. They recaught me on the flat sections, but on the final climb I left them behind, and rode the last flat 20 kilometres along the west coast completely alone. With the finish beckoning, and my back complaining, I pushed hard into the headwind – perhaps too hard.
Transition came much quicker than I had expected. My Garmin only read 105.4 km, so I had expected another couple of kilometres. I had to rush to undo my shoes and jump off just before the dismount line. My average pace was only 32.7 km/h which seemed disappointingly slow despite the hills. However, looking back at the elevation profile from my Garmin data, it is clear there is a lot more up and down than the official race map shows. The numerous short, steep climbs of 20, 30 or 40 metres really sap the legs.
The run was tough from the start. I ran the first kilometre at 4:32 pace, but already I knew this was unsustainable. Shortly after the first turnaround at 3 km, my right thigh cramped up just as it had at Suwako, and I sat down on the curb trying to stretch out my leg. After a couple of minutes, I managed to get back to my feet and walk off the cramp. Miraculously it disappeared, but from then on, I suffered a gradual drop of pace as the heat wore me down. The only relief was seeing Yuuka running on the other side of the road as I was on my second lap. She was running impressively smoothly. I only heard her voice on the next lap, as by then I was down a deep, dark hole.
At the end of each lap, the course looped through the town where there was both a little shade and a lot of local support. This was by far the best part of the run, and each lap I looked forward to leaving the exposed coast road and entering the town. On the last lap, I was even cheered on by Miki who had timed her arrival to perfection.
There were 4 aid stations on the 7 km course, but they were not evenly spaced out. More importantly, they didn’t have packs of ice. One aid station ladled icy water over us, but as more runners came through, the water became less icy. By 18 kilometres, I was down to 6-minute pace. With only 3 minutes to go, I managed to crank up the speed a little, and even managed 5:07 on the last kilometre. I crossed the line, picked up a cup each of water, sports drink, cold tea, and cola, and slumped down in a shaded spot. For the next ten minutes, the world span around me and I panted like an overheated dog.
I had hoped for an overall time of around 5:30 to 5:40, so I was not immediately satisfied with my time of 5:47. However, looking back at the race, I cannot see how I could have gone faster. Judging by my state after the finish, I was at my limit. And despite my slow time, my position of 15th out of nearly 750 starters shows that everyone had a tough time out in the sun.
Once I could finally move, I picked up my bike and walked to Hostel Perch to meet Miki. This is a great little place with simple style, good coffee, and craft beer on tap. It is also right on the run course. We ordered hazy IPAs and I took mine outside to watch the race go by. Just then Glenn came into view. I am not sure if he appreciated the sight of my beer, but it definitely made him speed up.
I should have waited to cheer on the other TiTers, but I couldn’t resist the urge to return to the hotel, shower, and lie down for the rest of the day. Nothing compares to the luxury of complete rest after a hard race. Later, we all met for our evening meal which turned into a celebratory feast. Everyone had pushed themselves to the limit. I was amazed at how fresh Stan seemed after his brilliant race. He was 50th out of nearly 1000 starters in the A-Race, a race so tough that more than a quarter of people didn’t make the cut-off time.
On Monday morning, I was up early to pack my bike and to run 3.5 km with Stan (who ran 7 km). The hotel was able to arrange bike delivery with Sagawa which was a big relief. Carrying the bike to Sado had proven to be a ridiculously bad decision. Stan, SeungGi, Miki and I then went to the medal ceremony at the Sado Cultural Center which was remarkably well attended. I picked up a cedar-wood trophy and the promise of a bag of rice.
Overall, I felt Sado is a very good race but not quite a great one. It is so famous amongst Japanese triathletes that I had expected something like Goto or Tokunoshima which are both fantastic middle-distance island races. One thing was the lack of clarity in explaining key race information. This was summed up by the ankle band situation which meant athletes could not do the race if they missed the unusual 6 a.m. cut-off time for collecting timing chips. Like many races, the website lacked clarity, which meant that key requirements were buried beneath random bumf. But really these are minor gripes. My lasting impression is of racing around a beautiful island thanks to the tireless work of organisers and volunteers. There must have been hundreds of volunteers stationed the whole way round the island directing traffic and keeping us safe, not to mention everyone working the aid stations. And all of this was done in burning heat. On top of this, Sado islanders had given us their island for the weekend. It is all pretty amazing if you think about it.
Results
A-Race
1149 Stan
B-Race
4118 Duncan
4369 Glenn
4477 Ken
4572 Mark
5021 Iyo
5060 Yuuka
5132 Meeks
Logistics
Yuuka did a wonderful job of organising transport and hotels and wading through the race information trying to glean the key points. It was an enormous help. Here are a few key points:
Covid testing – we had to do a PCR test 3 days before registration or a lateral flow test 1 day before. This was all well and good, but it relied completely on honesty: we just had to fill in a form, lay our negative test on the form and take a photo.
Bikes on jetfoil – you can travel with your bike on the jetfoil; the front part of the boat is set aside for bike bags.
Registration – you can register for the race on Saturday, but it is also possible early on Sunday morning.
Bike check-in – you can check in the bikes one day before, or on the morning of the race. With rain forecast on the night before the race, we all opted to keep the bikes dry in the hotel.
Bike bell and light – bikes must have a bell and a rear light or reflector. The bell idea seems daft, but the rear light was smart as there were several long tunnels.
Bike aid stations – bidons are handed out at the bike aid stations.
Things I did not know before the race:
Tunnels – some of the long tunnels were very dark. My dark visor meant I was riding blind; next time I will use a clear or tinted visor.
Ice – there is no ice in the run aid stations.
Ankle band – we had to pick up the timing ankle band 90 minutes before the race in a separate building. I had no idea about this. I happened to see many people walking around transition with an ankle band, so I asked where to get mine. It turned out I had three minutes to get the ankle band. On the way to pick it up, I bumped into Glenn and together we just made the cut-off time. It seems that many others were not so lucky. Ken O met someone on the ferry back who was not allowed to start the race due to being late for the ankle band. I noticed many walking around transition without ankle bands and wondered how many had missed this requirement. In all, there were 150 DNS for the B race.
Improvements
Ice – for me, this is the number one thing that needs to be sorted out at all hot races in Japan. Aid stations need to provide ice as much as they need to provide water. Perhaps athletes can carry a net bag and fill this with ice at aid stations.
Ankle bands – nearly all races hand out ankle bands as athletes are walking into the swim start area. If a race decides to break from convention, it should be made crystal clear.
Covid testing – races should provide lateral flow tests just before registration. Vaguely leaving it to athletes to do something and then be honest about it is inadequate.
The Best Bits
Swim course – one lap made the mass start surprisingly stress-free
Bike course – the route is simply splendid
Bike aid stations – cold water in bidons is heaven
Volunteers – while I was enjoying a post-race onsen, volunteers were still out in the heat keeping the race moving
hayama3tri 