Jan. 2026 The New Yoshida Times "Why Trail Running?!"

Good morning/evening everyone. This is Yoshida from milestone .

Here, I would like to write about my everyday thoughts and other private matters that I would not normally share on milestone .

For this reason, we have limited the entry links to within the e-mail newsletter.

(To put it in a positive way, it's like "Yoshida's Room" that only those who have subscribed to the email newsletter can see lol)

I was thinking, "Who would be interested?", but thankfully, by releasing the podcast, people have started to reach out to me on a regular basis, so I'll try my best to write in the hope that there is demand from even just one person.

 The theme is the four major factors that shaped me into who I am today.

●Activities

● Clothing and gear

●Culture

●Work

We will pick one from the list each month.

First, as befits an outdoor brand, I'll write about activities.
My original activity is undoubtedly soccer. I was hooked on Captain Tsubasa and admired Genzo Wakabayashi, so I started playing soccer in the sixth grade of elementary school. I was fascinated by the fun of the goalkeeper position, and was immersed in soccer throughout junior high and high school.

As a reaction to that, I hung out in a music club in college, but after entering the workforce I wanted to play goalkeeper again, so I went through the selection process for a strong futsal team in Osaka and joined. I moved from the satellite team to the top team as a sub-keeper ( I ended up as a reserve, lol ) , and we ended up coming in third in the All Japan Championships.

After getting married, I retired from competitive futsal and stayed away from activities for a while, but around 10 years ago, in 2015 , I was invited to go mountain climbing, and I was overwhelmed by the view of the Southern Alps on my first climb.

After that, I spent my weekends climbing the 100 famous mountains around the Kinki region, enjoying a cigarette and coffee while admiring the scenery at the summit. There was nothing particularly special about the reason I was climbing the 100 famous mountains; I simply didn't know much about mountains, so I imagined that "if it's one of the 100 famous mountains, it must be a nice mountain."

So why did I move on to trail running? There are two main reasons.

The first reason is that the working style changed for a while, and employees were now only given one day off on a weekday ( e.g., Tuesdays and Thursdays off ) , so in order to climb a high mountain, it became necessary to reach the summit and descend in a shorter time than before.

The second reason is that Toyota-san, the owner of Yosemite , a famous store in Kashihara, Nara that is a refuge for anyone looking for stylish mountaineering gear, has become addicted to trail running and has invited me to many related events.

Toyo has a really keen sense of perception, as seen on last year's pilgrimage, and she always gets those around her involved and shows us new worlds.

Mountain equipment and clothing store Yosemite

I started trail running around 2017 , and it's an activity I've been continuing to pursue ever since, never getting bored. People who hike or road run often say, "How can you be so willing to do something so demanding?" with a bit of a quibble, but I like to think of it like skiing or snowboarding in the summer. After a tough climb, you're rewarded with a spectacular view, followed by a fun descent where you can cut through the wind and descend the mountain in no time, then head to a hot spring or a meal. I've been obsessed with these extraordinary mountain trips that can be done in a short space of time.

Next time, I would like to trace my journey of trail running over the approximately 10 years from 2017 to 2026, and my current relationship with trail running.

See you next month, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.