Physical: Asia: Inside Korea's high-speed tag strategy that won the manual treadmill relay in Episode 10

Episode 10 of Physical: Asia featured a crucial preliminary challenge that determined which team would gain an advantage heading into Quest Five.

The Manual Treadmill Relay tested endurance, coordination, and pacing under pressure.

Korea’s victory came from a rapid-switch strategy that allowed them to maintain maximum speed while avoiding burnout.

This approach earned them the map advantage, a critical asset before entering the Castle Conquest arena.

Physical: Asia — Korea’s rapid-switch relay that secured the map advantage

The Master announced the rules clearly: two participants from each team, one male and one female, would take turns running on a manual treadmill for three minutes.

Substitutions were unlimited. Whichever team covered the greatest distance would win.

Korea selected Amotti and Seung-yeon, a pairing that balanced speed and technical pacing.

Amotti felt the pressure immediately:

“Even though it was just a preliminary challenge, I was still nervous.”

Seung-yeon echoed the uncertainty:

“I wasn’t sure I could do it… I wasn’t very confident.”

Once the relay started, Korea revealed their strategy early: they switched runners in short bursts.

Spectators noticed the approach. One Korean teammate called out,

“They switched already?”

Even Mongolia observed the tactic, saying Korea traded runners “every 20 seconds or so.”

Amotti explained the reasoning behind it:

“You sprint for a bit, then rest for a bit. Rinse and repeat. The longer you run, the more you tend to slow down. So, whenever one of us started to slow down, we'd just switch to maintain our speed.”

The rotation allowed them to avoid the inevitable slowdown that comes with extended manual treadmill running.

Dong-hyun coordinated the exchanges with strict timing:

“Get ready. Time to switch, step to the side.”

Japan took longer to adjust their strategy.

At first, they switched rarely, using longer running intervals

But mid-race, they realized Korea’s method was more effective. Nonoka described the change:

“The more that we switched, the faster we ran.”

Itoi, Japan’s former professional baseball player, relied on his sprinting background. He explained:

“When I ran, I tried to stay motivated by telling myself, ‘This is too easy!’”

But Korea’s fast exchanges kept their pace consistently high. Kana observed,

“Amotti is crazy fast.”

As exhaustion hit the final minute, both teams intensified their switches. Min-jae shouted instructions:

“Try to switch every ten seconds!”

Teammates echoed countdowns as the final seconds ticked away.

Despite the fatigue, Korea kept their lead. Amotti shared the physical cost afterward:

“My legs feel heavy… I could also taste a little blood in my mouth."

Itoi, in turn, acknowledged the challenge:

“I really did hit my limit at the end.”

When the Master revealed the results, the numbers confirmed Korea’s victory in Physical: Asia's preliminary challenge.

• Korea: 1,114 meters
• Japan: 1,024 meters
• Mongolia: 917 meters

Master then announced their reward:

“You will receive a map of the arena.”

Team Korea huddled to study their advantage while Japan looked on from across the room.

The map revealed the scale of Castle Conquest: sand dunes, barricades, and a heavy supply carriage. Okami admitted,

“I was definitely jealous… of course I wanted to see it.”

The Korean team understood the importance of their win.

The relay gave them more than a morale boost — it offered insight into the fifth quest structure of Physical: Asia before stepping into the arena.

Korea entered the Castle Conquest with the confidence of a relay victory, a map advantage, and a strategy-driven approach that carried them through Physical: Asia's competitive events.

Stay tuned for more updates.