MEDIA RELEASE - Kuai Sports Promotions and Venture Travel are happy to announce the birth of a new foot stage race through the magnificent Kansai region of Japan this autumn. From 3 to 11 October 2015 runners from Asia and the rest of the world will cover a total distance of 200km in 8 days starting in Osaka and ending in Kyoto. Trans Kansai is a member of the inaugural Asia Trail Master series to boot.

The event will commence with a non-timed warm-up urban run in Osaka to the legendary 16th century castle, before the real task begins with a 20km stage in Nara through the Kasagayama Virgin Forest. Other highlights during the week are the Diamond Trai and the ascents of Mount Atago, Daimonji and Hiei in the Kyoto region. Kyoto is the former imperial capital of Japan for more than a thousand years and the city is filled with historical buildings, shrines and other impressive cultural sites. The region around the city is characterised by green forests, hills and lakes, and lends itself perfectly to trail running.

The stage race has a variety of long and short distance stages, with stages 5 and 8 measuring up to 50 km in length. Participants will enjoy great hospitality at their local accommodation, plenty of onsen (hot springs) and local food that is both delicious and healthy. It is the first trail race of this kind in Japan and a perfect short holiday away from work.

Registrations for the first edition of Trans Kansai are opening soon via the official website. On the site you can already read all details of the various running stages, as well as check out the logistics and discover some background facts on the Kansai region. For the first edition of the event there will be a restricted number of runners, so early sign-up is required.

Each finisher of the stage race will obtain 175 distance points for the Asia Trail Master ranking (see ATMS regulations), and added to that will be the performance points according to the participant's race result.

Kuai Sports Promotions is a sports event management company based in Hong Kong and founder of the Asia Trail Master series, a continental-wide series of trail running races featuring an annual championship and a lifetime achievement award. Venture Travel is an Australian-Japanese company specialised in active outdoor travelling with over a decade of experience in Kansai.

Run 200km trans Kansai in Japan