The international trail-running event San-en SAMURAI TRAIL by UTMB, to be held in the Kosai Mountains, has established an organizing committee and an executive committee. The event is scheduled for late November to around December next year, with the course under consideration consisting primarily of unpaved trails centered on the Kosai Mountains.
Aichi and Shizuoka prefectures, Toyohashi, Shinshiro, Hamamatsu and Kosai, together with サーラコーポレーション, announced that they had established the organizing committee and executive committee for the international trail-running competition 2027 San-en SAMURAI TRAIL by UTMB. The event is scheduled for late November to around December next year, and will be the first event in the series in Japan to feature a course crossing a prefectural border.
The event will be part of the UTMB World Series and will be the third series event in Japan, following those in Ishikawa and Hiroshima prefectures. Three categories are planned: 100 km, 50 km and 20 km. The course is being developed primarily on unpaved mountain trails centered on the Kosai Mountains. The target is approximately 3,000 participants in total, including approximately 1,000 from overseas.
The event name "SAMURAI" was chosen at the request of UTMB officials overseas because the surrounding area is rich in historical sites from the Warring States period. The organizing committee will be chaired by Jinno Goro (神野 吾郎), president of サーラコーポレーション, while Kageyama Tsuyoshi (影山 剛士), former mayor of Kosai, will chair the executive committee. Lim (リム) praised the course design and its elevation profile.
Athlete registration is reportedly scheduled to begin around December this year.