SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP Running Club is recruiting casual runners for 2024 as well! Looking back on our seriously intense 2023 activities

Hello, everyone. I am Fujimura, a self-proclaimed No. 1 runner at SUNNY SIDE UP.

By now, you may be shaking off the New Year holiday mood and starting to get back into gear, even as you rub the sleep from your eyes.

Although we have not officially started activities as the SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP Running Club yet, some members are already feeling the pressure and stepping on the gas (starting to run) after seeing everyone’s activities shared on social media and in the running app we use internally. (Laughs)

Here are the running records as of January 6. As expected of our club leader, Mr. Takara—he has been quietly training hard, which is frustrating. I will withdraw my earlier claim of being “SUNNY SIDE UP’s No. 1 runner” for now.

With that, let us look back on the club’s 2023 activities, as a competitive spirit has begun to emerge within the team.

Looking Back on 2023

Last year, we participated in a wide variety of running events across the country.

The season kicked off in May, around the time COVID-19 was reclassified as a Category 5 infectious disease and more sporting events began to be held again.

Our first event was the “Bloomberg Square Mile Relay Tokyo.” Since the inaugural event in 2017, SUNNY SIDE UP has handled PR, production, and operations for this corporate relay running event.
We formed teams of 10 and worked together as one to pass the baton!

In addition to participating as runners, many colleagues came out to cheer us on, and afterward we all toasted with beer. It was pure bliss.

▼Read the report here
SUNNY SIDE UP Running Club finally enters! “Bloomberg Square Mile Relay Tokyo” participation report
Even the cheering gets intense!! “Bloomberg Square Mile Relay Tokyo” event report: The cheering edition

Fukushima trip: “Running × Tourism”

Next, on May 21, we ran the “Fukushima City Half Marathon.” We traveled to Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture. We stayed the night before like it was a trip, played games in the evening, and even raised a toast.

Even so, everyone finished properly, and half of us—including myself—broke the 2-hour mark!
“Running × Tourism” is wonderful, isn’t it? I would like to promote it even more.

Since it is hot in midsummer, we each did our own summer training. We kicked off the fall season with one of the world’s top and largest obstacle races.

After our individual summer training, on September 23 we participated in the world-class, large-scale obstacle race “SPARTAN RACE” held in Yuzawa Town, Niigata Prefecture.

Do you know this race that looks tough even just from the name?

A Spartan Race is a grueling event in which each category includes a 5 km to 21 km+ run plus 20–30 obstacles. Participants must overcome them using only their bodies to reach the finish line. During the race, teams are allowed to help one another clear obstacles; however, if you cannot complete an obstacle, there are tough rules such as having to do a prescribed number of burpees.

I trembled after reading this harsh-sounding description before the event. (Laughs)

However, once you try it, it is incredibly fun…! When we were children, playing in the mud and going to athletic parks was so much fun, wasn’t it?

It is exactly that. In a word, it is an “adult playground.” If you do it at your own pace without competing for rankings, it is not unbearable—it is genuinely fun.

You also get to experience the sense of accomplishment that comes from working together with teammates to overcome each obstacle. We are recruiting members to join us in 2024!

From the SUNNY SIDE UP president to new graduates joining in April, members across a wide range of seniority participated! With no holding back, 20 of us competed in an all-out relay.

On November 19–20, a total of 20 SUNNY SIDE UP members participated in “TOKYO ROKUTAI FES” held at Ajinomoto Stadium.

Amazingly, we had an extremely wide range of participants—from SUNNY SIDE UP Representative Director and President Ryu Shichau, to executive officers, mid-career members, younger members, and even prospective hires who will join as new graduates in April 2024—and we ran an all-out relay with no favoritism. (Laughs)

We entered the “6-Hour Endurance Relay (ROKUTAI for short),” in which teams of 2 to 20 runners pass a tasuki sash and keep running a 1.6 km loop course for six hours. This also sounds very tough, but it is a truly fun event.

In keeping with SUNNY SIDE UP, we split into Team Yolk (10 people) and Team White (10 people), and the two teams competed against each other. (Laughs)

It was so exciting—like being back at a school sports day in our youth…!

After safely running the full six hours together, we of course had an after-party. Drinks taste incredible when you have earned that sense of accomplishment! The best!

Finally, the Mt. Fuji Marathon. We ran 42.195 km.　

The final race of the season was the full marathon, the “Mt. Fuji Marathon.” On November 26, we ran 42.195 km at Lake Kawaguchi in Yamanashi Prefecture.

We initially planned to participate with around 10 people, but because it is a popular marathon, it exceeded capacity and more than half of us could not get in. (Laughs) Four of us participated. (Laughs)

This event tested our growth since the full marathon in Naha, Okinawa, which the SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP Running Club ran exactly one year earlier.

▼Read the NAHA Full Marathon report here
【Will everyone finish!?】Mensore! SUNNY SIDE UP’s famously energetic Running Club finally shows its true colors! We took on the grueling NAHA Full Marathon!

The results were………

Everyone finished…including members for whom this was their first full marathon!

I cut more than an hour off my time and achieved my goal of finishing under 4 hours 30 minutes!

A member aiming for a sub-4* finish unfortunately fell just short, but still set a major new personal best.*Finishing a 42.195 km full marathon within 4 hours

And when we finished, we saw none other than our club leader, Mr. Takara—who had missed entry—there! He rushed over with refreshments to cheer us on (tears).

We all stood by and waited to welcome the members as they finished.

In 2024, we will aim to become sub-4 runners together!

We are also recruiting casual runners for 2024

After reading this far, you may feel that we are a hard-core “serious club” that is difficult to approach.

……………We cannot deny it.

However, in 2024 we will run with the theme of “helping more people discover the joy of running.”

We will also hold sessions where we run at an easy pace, stopping by coffee shops and cake shops along the way. We will be holding them for the post-run beer, too.

Everyone at SUNNY SIDE UP GROUP, we look forward to having you join the Running Club! We will continue to share records from various club activities.🏃‍♀️

Past #clubsunny activity reports are available here.