TJAR: Japan's Most Brutal Race — 415km Across the Alps, 8 Days, No Prize Money

Full Japanese version (14 min):    • 【賞金0円】日本一過酷なレース「TJAR」を全部解説します｜富山湾→駿河湾 415k...   415 kilometers from the Sea of Japan to the Pacific. Over the Northern, Central, and Southern Alps — 27,000 meters of total climb, more than seven Everests of ascent... crossed in under 8 days, completely unsupported. No prize money. No course markers. No sleeping in huts. Runners carry everything, bivouac outside, and navigate by their own map reading. This is the Trans Japan Alps Race (TJAR), held once every two years. Only 30 runners make the start line — through entry requirements most ultrarunners could never meet, a two-day selection camp in the mountains, and finally, a lottery. I spent four days at Chausu Hut (2,400m), the last high-altitude checkpoint, 300km into the race — welcoming runners who had crossed all three Alps. This video is what I saw there. 00:00 Prologue 00:24 What is TJAR? 04:38 The rules & the selection camp 08:32 The runners 09:14 What I saw at Chausu Hut 11:29 The pull of TJAR 12:06 Full replay: 8 days of GPS tracks