WELCOME TO JAPAN.
WELCOME TO SEA TO SUMMIT 2026!

Dear #ratracer 

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Welcome to the inaugural Japan: Sea to Summit adventure!

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The countdown begins here to our Japanese journey from the sea to the very top of one of Earth's most iconic mountains, the majestic Mount Fuji. This adventure packs a punchy 3776m elevation into an unforgettable 50km swashbuckling summit ascent and we cannot wait to welcome you to this magical country!

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We’re excited to share our Essential Event Information Guide, a comprehensive outlook towards your upcoming adventure with us! If you have not done so already, do ensure you are fully conversant with the website and then pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee (or even something a little stronger!) and read on….  

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Abbi

Head of Expeditions 

Event Director, Japan Sea to Summit

KEY FACTS

MEDICAL & SAFETY

MEDICAL OPERATIONS

Our team is there for you in case you have an incident with which you require assistance. The team will shadow the progress of the adventure each day in vehicles or on foot (whichever is most appropriate given the days activity) before establishing a medical clinic each afternoon/evening at our overnight accommodation. Whilst the medics are there for ‘what ifs,’ they are also a great source of preventative advice; so please do use them to ask questions and check best practice, particularly in suspected foot injury or issues such as blisters.  

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MEDICAL PRE-SCREENING

Please complete the medical screening form HERE. Please complete this as soon as possible – and certainly please, no later than 9th May 2026. If you do have any conditions that you feel we should know about, however small you feel it may be, please do share this with our Medics. Experience has shown that early pre-screening can assist both us and you greatly in enabling the care you need pre and during the trip. If you do not share information on conditions which are likely to affect your participation or decide to share them very late in the process, we are all under pressure and we will always reserve the right to cancel your participation if we feel there is a medical issue that may affect yours, or others’ safety. So please, do share anything and everything you feel our team should know about, at the earliest opportunity. 

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 IMPORTANT NOTE ON SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS AND MEDICAL INFORMATION: 

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​ We are very fortunate to have an excellent Medical Director providing oversight, planning and screening on all of our international trips, who in turn engages seriously professional and qualified staff to join you on the trip. Rat Race also conforms and has been audited to the rigorous BS8848 standard of expedition management. This means our approach to all things safety and medical is extremely thorough and it is designed throughout with your best interest at heart. 

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Your medical screening details will be sent direct to our medical team and under medical confidentiality rules, this will only be shared with our medics and no-one else. If they decide this is information that is in the best interests of everyone for us as organisers to be privy to, they will seek and gain your consent before doing so. It is therefore important you complete the medical survey only via the link which can be found HERE; do not send Rat Race medical information direct. If you have any queries at all on the medical side of things in relation to this event, you can email our Medical Director, Dr Patrick Musto confidentially on office@trailmed.com and he and his team will assist. 

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SUN & HEAT   

Please carefully review our Sun & Heat safety guidance issued by our medical partner Trail Med.

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ALTITUDE

Altitude sickness, also known as mountain sickness, is a medical condition that can occur when your body doesn't have enough time to adjust to the lower oxygen levels at high altitudes. Altitude sickness usually occurs at levels above 2,500 meters. The body's process of adjusting to lower oxygen levels is called acclimatisation, and it usually takes about 3 to 5 days. 

The cause of altitude sickness is the rapid ascent to higher elevation where the air pressure is lower at higher altitudes, which means there's less oxygen available for your body to breathe. 

Medex have created a booklet called ‘travel at high altitude’, [BG to Add] it explains altitude, altitude sickness, symptoms and preventions. You should read this document departing for Japan.  

We have structured the event to create the lowest risk altitude profile. Using the first few days to acclimatise on Mount Asama, before descending back to sea level. However, it is still a very fast ascent, and we will all be affected by the altitude to some degree. As soon as we start descending any symptoms will lessen. 

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WEATHER & POOR WEATHER CONTINGENCY

Japan is going to be hot and very humid. Mountain environments are known for varied weather conditions. All four seasons can be felt in one day. Please be prepared for the multiple weather conditions and temperatures ranging from hot to cold. The terrain and altitudes along the route will also have an effect of the temperature.   

The event will proceed in many conditions, but if it is deemed unsafe to continue due to weather conditions, the event will be halted. If required, we will await more favourable  conditions to re-commence. This may result in some stages being cut short in order to achieve daily mileages within the time available.  In all cases, the decision of the Event team is final in these matters.  

We will monitor weather throughout.  

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EMERGENCY PROTOCOL

In the event of a true emergency or serious incident protocols will be followed to provide the quickest available evacuation to a healthcare centre. These protocols will be made clear to you upon arrival at a pre-event briefing.  If you are with an injured party whilst on the route, stay with the casualty and await assistance. In the event of a non-emergency incident but for which action is requested from the organisers, then you should place a call (we will give you numbers) or if no phone reception, you should send a message forward to the next Pit Stop with another participant if possible and/or await an event crew member approaching via vehicle/or on foot from behind. This might be medical, logistical or kit/ equipment breakdown as examples. We politely ask that you stop and help someone that is in difficulty – you will be the first person to find them – remember to take note of time, place (number of km, or minutes/ hours from last Pit Stop) and participant number/ name at the incident site. Remember we are all in it together and we are in effect one big team. 

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INSURANCE FOR YOU & YOUR EQUIPMENT

We have asked that you have in place Travel Insurance cover and specified Evacuation cover to last for a minimum period of the event duration for the days you are with us on the published itinerary. Evacuation and medical expenses cover should total no less than $500 000. A copy of this cover/covers (if separate policies) is required to be received by us by 9th May 2026.

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​We recommend that participants have insurance to cover damage, loss, theft, injury and non-attendance. Rat Race cannot accept any responsibility for the loss of, theft, or damage to any Participant property or the circumstances of Participant non-attendance. Within the 12-week departure window, we cannot provide any transfers and, in all cases, we cannot entertain requests for refunds. We respectfully remind all participants that unforeseen circumstances preventing attendance is what travel insurance is designed for and is the reason for this as a strong recommendation on such undertakings.   

Some suggested providers are as follows:   
  
For UK and Channel Island residents Rat Race’s own insurer brokers have a brand-new product: https://www.mannbroadbent.co.uk/sports-travel-insurance/.  

  
Note: This is Rat Race’s UK-based insurance broker, specialising in the leisure insurance market. This is a specialist sports travel cover product; however, Rat Race is neither an insurance broker or underwriter. We can recommend Mann Broadbent wholeheartedly as good people to deal with, but please remember that this is not a ‘Rat Race product’ and we have no say whatsoever on claims decisions made by the insurers, in the event that you raise such a claim via one of these policies.   

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Other providers:  

• www.battleface.com  

• www.bigcattravelinsurance.com  

• www.internationalsos.com  

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Note: We have no relationship with any of these providers, but previous customers have found them reasonable to deal with regarding some of our similar Bucket List challenges.   
  
Note: For all insurance, please remember that cover is offered based on several factors, (the nature of the event disciplines being one of them), but your own insurance profile, age, health and other details form a big part of this. As such, we are always happy to provide details to insurers in support of cover requests from customers, but we cannot influence their decisions as to whether to offer cover to individuals.  

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GENERAL SAFETY AROUND VEHICLES

This event takes place on open roads. There are vehicles, this is not a closed road event. Vigilance must be always taken. 

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LITTER

We want to show that this event has exemplary control of littering. Please help us achieve that. Pack your litter into your pack, pockets or nearby bin bag at a vehicle. No exceptions. Japan is a beautiful environment, and our absolute commitment is to keep it that way.  

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FINAL ADMIN

TRANSFER DEADLINE

At the time of booking, on our website and within our welcome email we made clear that your purchase is non-refundable. But up until 12 weeks prior to departure, you could use our transfer system if you wished to withdraw from the event. We respectfully remind all participants that unforeseen circumstances preventing attendance is what travel insurance is designed for and is the reason for this as a strong recommendation on such undertakings. 

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We want to be really clear that the transfer option is there for you if you need it. But it does have a deadline. That deadline is  Thursday 16th April 2026. This is 12 weeks prior to the event and our advertised standard transfer window for international events. After this time, we regret that we simply cannot change entries and if you are in, you’re in. So if you don’t think you’re in this time around, please do ensure you use that transfer window and get your transfers in by the dates above. You can do that by logging into your RR account, heading to the ‘Your Entries’ tab and hitting the ‘Transfer button’. 

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Please note event credit is exempt from the transfer process. Once credit is redeemed against an event entry it is locked into that event. You can read our transfer policy HERE 

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EVENT ETHIS: FINISH LINES NOT FINISH TIMES!

Completing not competing. Rat Race’s ethos has always been about inspiring folk to undertake challenges in awesome outdoor locations. Japan Sea to Summit is just that, taken to an epic level. This is not a formal race environment and there are no winners and losers. We do not award prizes for the fastest folk. There will be no splits. Indeed, there will be no timings. Rat Race totally appreciate the incredible commitment of those taking on the challenges we lay down and each participant is as important as the next regardless of how fast you can cover the distance. This is akin far more to an expeditionary undertaking than anything else. 

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In delivering this unique challenge we prioritise factors such as safety, camaraderie and environmental concerns. Respecting the wishes of local stakeholders with our route management and litter policies is vital in being able to bring folk together for this unique experience. Safety above all else is paramount, as you will fully appreciate. To reasonably balance all these factors, we emphasise that the event is not a formal race environment, rather it is a challenge in the great outdoors where great folk come together with a common purpose.  ​