Sunshine Beach parkrun, Otsu, 22nd November 2025

After last week’s dispatch from Osaka, today Tom Tinsley comes to us live from Otsu:

“Although parkrun is catching on in Japan, it seems that the city of Kyoto is not yet on board. Apparently several attempts to set one up have been thwarted by the city’s rules and/or health and safety concerns for gatherings of over 50 people (which is unbelievable when you see the crowds at the main tourist sites!).

Thankfully, just a short train ride away at Otsu on the shores of Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest lake, is Sunshine Beach parkrun. As I am still crocked, I offered to volunteer and was allocated the role of barcode scanner. Gill had a bit of a chesty cough and was planning to walk, so her offer of being tailwalker was also gladly accepted. 

Having made our way down to the lake shore along with a couple of other tourists, we looked in vain for any sign of life, but there were none! Luckily, just a couple of minutes later, some hi-viz vests appeared.  I was greeted with bows and smiles as “Tom san”, with “Gillian san” a step or two behind. 

The first timers briefing was delivered in English to tourists from Britain, the Netherlands, USA and South Africa – tourists making up about half of the 48 strong field.  Once again, we were all called together for a group photo before the start.

Luckily for Gill, the course was a very straightforward one (and a flat, fast one for any PB chasers). Out along the promenade one way, turn at the marshal, then back and out the other way, turn back and repeat 3.5 times.  Unluckily, there weren’t any walkers so she had to jog to stay in touch with the back marker.  She was afraid that if she didn’t keep up, she would lose count of the laps!

For me, scanning was the same as at home but with extra bowing!  My scanning partner was a young lady who spoke good English, and she showed me that we sorted the tokens as we scanned, storing them in order in the lid of a cardboard box. So really I should get 2 volunteer points! 

The nearby cafe didn’t open until 10am, but the volunteer team had packets of biscuits that they handed around.  They made me feel very welcome and, as I said in Osaka last week, they deserve more runners for all their effort. 

I am so glad that we went, even though I couldn’t run. I think one of the great things about going to parkruns on foreign holidays is getting away from the tourist traps to meet normal people doing normal things in normal places. Runners are normal people, aren’t they?”

37:13	Gill Milne (Tailwalker)