# 元保育士がサハラ砂漠250kmを激走！不合理なことに挑むからこそ、人生はハッピーになる「極限の美学」とは？

- Show: VALTURE RADIO
- Published: 2026-10-22
- Canonical: https://podc.club/en/episode/1891021458_e76d136b61a3.html
- Audio: https://feed.sonicbowl.cloud/audio/da7348af-026e-4250-8df8-31e5a473ac42/audio.mp3?updated=1792667737
- Source: Edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. Not an official summary.

Former nursery-school teacher turned professional runner Tomomi Mito (美藤智美) has competed three times in the Sahara Desert Marathon (~250 km), finishing in the top ranks each time, completed a 240 km Costa Rica jungle race, and in September 2026 set an Asian record at a 6-day race in Hungary (144 hours, 802 km). In conversation with host Kei Tanaka (田中圭), she recounts running through near-blackouts in 52°C heat after being refused an IV drip, and explains how pushing herself to these extremes has transformed her appreciation for ordinary daily life.

## What this episode answers

### How did Tomomi Mito go from being a nursery-school teacher to taking up ultra-marathon running and becoming a professional runner?

An unhealthy crash diet during her nursery-school years sparked an interest in health, leading her to take up running to become a trainer; after achieving a sub-3-hour full marathon, she heard that a marathon could be run across the Sahara, immediately declared she would 'become world number one there,' and has been extending her distances into desert and jungle racing ever since.

### What kind of race is the Sahara Desert Marathon, and what hardships did she face there?

A self-sufficient 7-day stage race where only water is provided, requiring runners to carry 6.5–7 kg of food, sleeping bag, and supplies; during her first entry temperatures hit 52°C and participants collapsed one after another, Mito herself was refused an IV drip because she could still speak, and she lanced her own blisters with a safety pin heated over a lighter.

### What was her experience like in the Costa Rica jungle race?

A running race that turned into swimming when the river section grew too deep for her 152 cm frame to touch the bottom; she also crawled under a barbed-wire fence to follow the course, while crocodile warning signs, multicolored snakes, anteaters, and piranhas populated what she described as 'a fairy-tale world' where even the absurd felt thrilling.

### What were the circumstances when she set the Asian record at the Hungary 6-day race?

Running 900 m loops for 144 hours with only 20-minute naps, she fell into a hallucinatory state near the end and discovered she had no memory of the previous three hours when told four hours remained; she kept going anyway to finish 802.927 km and set the Asian record, returning home with 5% body fat.

### Why does she keep taking on these grueling races, and how have extreme experiences changed her outlook on life?

'Because it's fun' is her core answer; returning from the desert makes every aspect of ordinary Japanese life feel like a gift and raises her overall sense of happiness, and seeing students save up part-time wages to enter races inspired by her social-media posts—and hearing their thanks—also drives her.

## Article

## From Nursery-School Teacher to Professional Runner — A Sahara Encounter

Tomomi Mito, born in 1990 and raised in Tokyo, was working as a nursery-school teacher when an unhealthy crash diet sparked a desire to work in a field that teaches people about health. She began running with the goal of becoming a trainer, but felt that her nursery-school background alone would not carry enough weight. Reasoning that running was something "anyone can start, anywhere, at any time," she entered road marathons to build credibility, fell in love with the sport, and eventually clocked a full-marathon time of 2:59. Host Kei Tanaka noted that accounting for the typical 20-minute gender gap, that translates to a roughly 2:30s equivalent for a male runner.

The turning point came when she heard there was a marathon held across the Sahara Desert. Despite having no prior interest in foreign countries or the English language, Mito felt an instant pull—"That sounds incredibly interesting"—and declared on the spot that she would "win in the Sahara and become world number one." From that moment she progressively extended her distances, moving from road racing into desert and jungle competitions.

## Fifty-Two Degrees in the Sahara — The Reality of a Self-Sufficient Race

The Sahara Desert Marathon (~250 km) is a 7-day stage race in which only water is provided; competitors must carry all food, a sleeping bag, and medical supplies themselves. Each day covers roughly a full-marathon distance, after which athletes cook their own meals, sleep in the open, and line up again the following morning. A minimum of 2,000 kcal of food per day is mandatory, and organizers verify every item with a calculator before the start. Mito's pack weighed 6.5 kg in food and sleeping bag alone, rising to 8–8.5 kg once water was added on day one. Standing 152 cm tall, her smaller frame meant her minimum survival ration was lower than most—a fact she looks back on as "lucky."

During her first entry, temperatures climbed to 52°C. Two rescue helicopters were not enough to cope with the number of participants collapsing along the course. Mito herself developed heat exhaustion and asked the medical team for an IV drip, only to be told, "You can still talk, so you're fine—you can sleep here until morning without being disqualified." She napped for five minutes and kept moving. Blisters covered her feet, but the medical tent queue offered no relief either: "If you walked here yourself, you're okay." She solved the problem by heating a safety pin over a lighter, lancing each blister, pouring on disinfectant, and letting the wound dry before running again. She also carried hard gummy candy as a race snack, chewing it thoroughly on the move to prevent gastrointestinal problems.

## Costa Rica Jungle 240 km — "I Was Supposed to Be Running, Not Swimming"

Mito calls the 240 km Costa Rica jungle race the hardest she has ever entered. The course included a stretch of more than 10 km along a river; what began as shallow water gradually deepened until her 152 cm frame could no longer touch the bottom and she found herself swimming. "I'm in a running race and I'm swimming," she thought—yet she found even that absurdity entertaining. At one point the course marker was on the other side of a barbed-wire fence with no staff in sight, so she crawled under it and pressed on. Crocodile warning signs lined the bank; multicolored snakes, anteaters, and piranhas were part of the landscape, while red birds flew overhead in scenes she described as "like something out of a fairy tale."

The race also carries special personal significance: during her first scheduled entry she tested positive for COVID-19 the day before the start and was unable to race, making the following year's return a hard-fought redemption.

## Hungary 6-Day Race, 802 km — Three Lost Hours and an Asian Record

At the 6-day race (144 hours) held in Hungary in September 2026, Mito ran laps of a 900 m loop aiming to surpass the existing Asian record of 801 km. Unlike a fixed-distance desert stage race, this format is a test of self-management: runners compete to cover as many kilometers as possible within the time limit. Mito ate on the move—one bite at a time—and alternated 20-minute naps with running stints. Near the end she fell into a hallucinatory state, unable to understand why she was there, and seeing other runners going in the wrong direction. When told there were four hours remaining, she discovered the previous three hours had completely vanished from her memory. She kept running anyway, finishing 802.927 km to set the Asian record. Back in Japan, she stepped on the scales to find her body fat had dropped to 5%; burning roughly 6,000 kcal a day while having almost no time to eat had produced chronic caloric deficit throughout the six days.

## "Going to the Desert Made Life Happier" — Why She Keeps Going

When asked why she continues racing despite knowing the physical cost, Mito's answer is simply: "Because it's fun." Returning from the desert, she finds herself grateful for things she once took for granted—running water, a roof over her head, the taste of Japanese food—and her overall sense of happiness rises. Entry fees far exceed prize money, so the financial return is essentially zero, but as she has kept sharing her experiences on social media, students have begun saving up part-time wages to enter races themselves or launching crowdfunding campaigns to fund similar challenges. Hearing "thank you" from them has become a major source of motivation. For the April 2026 Sahara 270 km race, she self-funded a documentary film to capture the inner conflict and emotional shifts that a selfie cannot convey. Upcoming races include the Oman Desert Race in January and the Costa Rica Jungle Race in February next year.

## Takeaways

- From nursery-school teacher to sub-3-hour marathoner to professional ultra-runner—her entire journey traces back to a spontaneous declaration that she would 'become world number one in the Sahara.'
- Fifty-two-degree heat, total self-sufficiency, and self-lanced blisters with a safety pin—the realities of the Sahara Desert Marathon operate on a completely different scale from any ordinary definition of 'hard.'
- Extreme experiences breed deep gratitude for everyday life and raise overall happiness, and inspiring a younger generation to take on their own challenges through social media has become a core part of her mission.