HK168
Retired at 163.5km during a 37.5-hour attempt.
Race Reports & Retirements
Race Reports & Retirements
Detailed accounts of ultramarathon and triathlon events from the 2014 season — completions, DNFs, and the lessons earned between the tape and the trail.
"Rebooting stopped thinking. Rebooting stopped legs." — A durable planner's blog.
2014 Season
The Races
Jo's race log covers a demanding stretch of road ultras, trail runs, and a full IRONMAN across the 2014 season. Below are the headline events chronicled on the blog, including completions and one hard-earned retirement.
IRONMAN JAPAN Hokkaido
Full IRONMAN distance completed.
Fuji Five Lakes
Listed among the season's key ultras.
Nozawa
Noted for its sharp climbs and rolling terrain.
Saroma Lake
Flagged as a race that defied expectations in difficulty.
Daisetsuzan Ultra Trail
Part of the season's trail-running lineup.
Series
Races I Want to Run Before I Die
An ongoing series on the blog cataloguing the events Jo aims to line up for in future seasons. The series sits alongside the 2014 race reports as a forward-looking companion.
For the broader context behind these races, see the 2014 Ultramarathon Challenge Review.
Lessons from the Trail
Highlights
- The HK168 retirement was documented in detail in February 2015, breaking down the 37.5-hour attempt and the decision to stop at 163.5km.
- The IRONMAN JAPAN Hokkaido finish on August 24, 2014 was reported in September 2014.
- The Saroma Lake 100km served as a reminder that no race should be underestimated — a lesson revisited in the 2014 challenge review.
A race report page built around bold contrast and oversized typography invites the reader into a season of long miles and honest finishes. The dark canvas paired with saturated yellow accents mirrors the energy of an ultramarathon start line, while the heavy grotesque display face gives each event title the weight it deserves. Generous spacing and squared edges keep the focus firmly on the storytelling, letting race narratives breathe between sections and reinforcing a utilitarian, no-nonsense aesthetic suited to endurance sport. Beyond the visual framework, the page functions as a logbook of effort and outcome, capturing completions, retirements, and the quieter lessons gathered between aid stations. Tag-style labels nod to qualifications and event categories, echoing the small pill markers used elsewhere on the site. The flat, photographic approach strips away ornamentation so the writing about trails, roads, and triathlon transitions can carry the attention, supported by clean alignment and confident negative space that read like mile markers in print.
Race reports and retirements live in the same breath on this stretch of the blog, where ultramarathons, triathlons, and the lessons earned between tape and trail share a single, stubborn tone. The entries lean into long-form honesty rather than highlight reels, treating each finish line, near-miss, and DNF as material worth working through on the page. Trail, road, and full-distance events appear together, framed as chapters of one demanding season rather than separate brag lists. The writing favors the reflective middle distance: what the body refused, what the mind kept offering, and what was left in the runner after the race was over.