On March 17, I ran the Seoul International Marathon in South Korea. This is the oldest marathon in Asia and the second oldest marathon in the world. Only the Boston Marathon has a longer history.
This was my first trip to
Asia since 2019. Since then, Delta has
added direct flights from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Incheon/Seoul. I’ve made connections at this airport on
trips to other parts of Asia, but I used to have to add an additional
connection in Seattle. Flying directly
to Incheon made this trip much more appealing.
I first started looking
into the details of this race last June.
Registration for the marathon wasn’t open yet, but I discovered several
of the hotels were already fully booked.
I made an educated guess what days I would be there and made a hotel
reservation. I didn’t know if it would
be difficult to get into the race, so I waited until I was registered before
booking my flights.
In September, I was
finally able to register for the race. The
website said we had to qualify by finishing another marathon in five hours or
less, but we weren’t required to submit proof of a qualifying time as part of
the registration process. That would
come later.
Korean residents
registered through the race website, but foreign runners registered through
World’s Marathons, which is a third-party website. After I registered, I got an email saying I
wouldn’t need to submit my qualifying information until later. I was expecting to be notified by email, but
I periodically checked the race website to see if there was any information
about submitting qualifying times.
I didn’t see any news on
the website in October or November.
After that, I got too busy.
Between the holidays, our Hawaii vacation, and Deb’s knee problems, I
didn’t get around to checking the website again until January.
In January, I saw a
notice on the website with information on how to submit our qualifying
times. It said we had to submit them
between December 4 and December 18.
Oops. I missed the deadline.
I sent an email to
World’s Marathons asking what I should do.
I didn’t get any reply. A few
days later, I sent an email to the race organizers. They didn’t reply to me directly, but the
next day they sent an email blast to all the foreign registrants who had not yet
submitted qualifying times. They gave us
a link to the website for record submission (i.e. submitting proof of a
qualifying time). They said if we didn’t
submit a qualifying time by January 30, we would be seeded in the last corral. I scanned and uploaded a finisher
certification from a qualifying race. A
few days later, I was notified that my qualifying time was accepted.
A month before the race,
I was surprised how little information there was on the race website. It mostly had information about registration,
record submission, and what we would get in our race packet. There was very little information about the
race itself, other than the date and where the race started and finished.
In the last few weeks
before the race, they gradually posted the race details, but not all in the
same place. Some details were only found
on Instagram or in emails. I don’t have
an Instagram account, and I wasn’t receiving all of the emails. I knew the location of the expo, but it was
only through a friend that I found out the hours of the expo.
When I travel, I usually
use Google Maps (or the Android Maps app) for transit and walking
directions. It has served me well for
figuring out how to get around in different cities around the world, but it
doesn’t work in Korea. It can give
transit directions, but it won’t give walking directions. That’s because of Korean government
regulations prohibiting the storage of detailed geographical data on foreign
file servers. Instead of using Google
Maps, I installed a Korean app called Naver Map.
Wednesday, March 13
I left Minneapolis at
11:00 AM on a 14-hour flight to Incheon.
I didn’t sleep at all on the flight.
That usually makes it easier to get to bed at night and start adjusting
to the new time zone.
Thursday, March 14
My flight arrived in
Incheon around 2:30 PM, which was an about hour ahead of schedule. It only took about five minutes to get
through the line for immigration. Then I
took a train from the airport to the main train station in Seoul. From there, I took the subway as far as I
could and then walked the rest of the way to my hotel. The whole trip took about an hour and 45
minutes. It would’ve been faster if I
could’ve taken the express train from the airport, but the next express train
was sold out. Instead, I took a train
that makes several stops.
My hotel was in Seoul’s Jongno
district, near Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun Square. By the time I got to my hotel and checked
into my room, it was already 5:00 PM.
I only had four days in
Seoul, and some of that time would be taken up by the expo and the race. Seoul has good transit, but it’s a large
city. Getting to different parts of the
city can take time, even by subway. To
make the most of my sightseeing time, I focused on central Seoul.
There are five grand
palaces in Seoul, and my hotel was centrally located between them. Of the five, only Deoksugung is open in the
evening. I was able to walk there from
my hotel, passing through Gwanghwamun Square along the way. There are two large statues in Gwanghwamun
Square. The first one is King Sejong the
Great. The second one is Admiral Yi
Sun-Sin.
When I got to Deoksugung,
I bought a combined ticket, which gave me admission to all of the grand
palaces, plus the Jongmyo Shrine. If
you’re going to visit all the palaces, buying the combination ticket gives you
a small cost savings. It’s biggest
advantage, however, is that allowed me to visit the other palaces without
waiting in ticket lines at each palace.
I got to Deoksugung while
it was still light out, but I stayed until it started getting dark, so I could see
the buildings lit up for the evening.
On my way back to the
hotel, I saw other downtown buildings lit up for the night. This is city hall.
When I visit someplace
new, I like to try the local pizza. For
my first meal in Korea, I went to a tap house where I was able to get a pizza
with Korean barbeque and sample some Korean beers.
I don’t speak Korean, and
I sometimes encountered people who didn’t speak English. I was able to communicate with people by
using the translate app on my phone.
Everyone I encountered who didn’t speak English had a phone or tablet,
and they were used to communicating that way.
Most of the signs in
public spaces were in both Korean and English, but I occasionally saw a sign or
label that was only in Korean. I made
extensive use of the camera feature of my translate app.
I was able to get to
sleep that night without any difficulty.
Staying asleep was another matter.
I wake up frequently during the night, and the first time I woke up, I
couldn’t get back to sleep. I spent the
rest of the night resting in bed and trying to get back to sleep.
Friday, March 15
I got up at 6:00 AM after
laying in bed for hours. I had breakfast
at the hotel and then did a workout in their fitness room.
My first sightseeing stop
on Friday was Gyeongbokgung Palace. I
arrived in time to see the first changing of the guard ceremony inside
Gwanghwamun Gate.
Gyeongbokgung is the
largest of the grand palaces. I passed
two other gates before reaching the palace.
When I was done touring
the palace, I explored some of the palace grounds.
You can get free
admission to any of the grand palaces by wearing a traditional garment called a
hanbok. I saw dozens of people wearing
these at Gyeongbokgung.
When I was done at Gyeongbokgung,
I toured the National Folk Museum of Korea, which is on the east side of the
palace grounds. This museum has three
sections. The first is called The
Beginning of K-Culture. This exhibit
shows aspects of Korean culture that set it apart from the rest of the
world. The second section is called A
Year in Korea, and it depicts significant events in agricultural life as the
seasons change. The third section is Korean
Life Passages. This section shows the
significant events in the life of someone growing up and living in Korea.
I spent a good portion of
the morning outside, so I had to dress warm.
The clothes I was wearing would’ve been too hot for the hiking I had
planned for the afternoon, so I had to stop at the hotel to change clothes before
heading out again.
Next, I went to the Myeongdong
neighborhood, where I had lunch and then explored the narrow streets.
From there, I walked up
the hill to Namsan Park. Namsan Park is
a large city park with hiking trails.
It’s also home to Namsan Tower (a.k.a. Seoul Tower), which is the best
place to get views of the city.
Namsan Tower is at the
top of a hill. Most people get there by
taking a cable car. I chose to walk up a
set of steps and then hike the rest of the way.
I started my hike with
the North Namsan Trail. This trail
snakes through the north side of the park.
I left the trail briefly to go up a set of steps leading to the Waryong
Tomb.
As I continued along the
trail, I was joined by another runner from the U.S. He wasn’t here to run the marathon. He’s a pilot who was in Seoul on a
layover. The two of us hiked the rest of
the trail together and talked about various races.
At the west end of the
park, the North Namsan Trail meets up with the South Namsan trail. This trail follows the road that buses take
to get to Namsan Tower. From an
overlook, I got a good view of the tower.
The last part of this
trail gave me good views of the old city wall.
This used to be part of a defensive wall around the whole city that
connected the various hills.
When I reached the tower,
I explored the levels of the plaza before taking the elevator to the
observation deck. The plaza has several
levels. It’s a tourist destination all
by itself. Then I took the elevator up
to the observation deck, which also has multiple levels.
From the observation
deck, you can see every part of the city.
Here’s the view looking north.
I wanted to get the
nighttime views too. While I waited for
the sun to set, I had dinner at a Korean grill on one of the levels of the
observation tower.
As I ate dinner, the sun
went down, and I gradually started to see the lights of the city. By the time I finished eating, it was
dark. I went back to the observation
level to see the city at night.
After taking the elevator
back down to ground level, the quickest way back into town was to take a
bus. While I was waiting for the bus, I
had this view of the tower from the bus stop.
I slept better that
night. I woke up a few times, but each
time I eventually got back to sleep.
Saturday, March 16
Packet pickup was on
Saturday. I wanted to get there early in
the day, so I could have time later for sightseeing. The expo didn’t start until 10:00 AM, so I
had time for a leisurely breakfast at my hotel.
The expo was held at the Jamsil
Sports Complex, which is south of the Han River in the Songpa district. It took about 45 minutes to get there by
subway.
Race packets for Korean
residents were sent by mail, so the only runners picking up race packets were
other foreign runners.
Besides my race bib, the race
packet included two T-shirts, energy gels, drink mix powders, a race program,
and a plastic bag for gear check. One of
the shirts says “Finisher” on the back.
I found it odd that they gave us this before the race, but I’m sure that
makes things easier.
Outside, I saw runners in long
lines to buy merchandise or get product samples from the vendors who were
there. I decided to skip the lines and
head back to the hotel to drop off my race packet before heading out again.
I didn’t want to have a heavy
lunch, so I ate some pastries I bought from a street vendor as I headed back
out to do some sightseeing. My first
stop was Changgyeonggung Palace.
Next, I toured Changdeokgung
Palace, which is just a short distance away.
After touring the buildings on
my own, I had a guided tour of the secret gardens. Sadly, the Buyongji Pond, which is considered
the most beautiful part of the gardens, was being dredged. I had bad timing.
Next, I went to the Jongmyo
Shrine. I also had bad timing here. The main hall is currently being restored.
For dinner, I went to a place
called Brew 3.14 Pi. It’s a little hole
in the wall that’s located on a narrow alley, but they have good pizza and
craft beer. Besides, I couldn’t resist
the name.
I got to sleep earlier that
night. I slept well for about five
hours. Then I starting thinking about
the race, and I had trouble getting back to sleep.
Sunday, March 17
Sunday was race day. The start area was in Gwanghwamun Square,
which was only a few blocks from my hotel.
The race started at 8:00 AM, but I made a point of arriving much earlier
to give myself time to get into my start corral.
I was planning to eat a light
breakfast at the hotel. It wasn’t until
race day that I discovered that the hotel breakfast starts later on
weekends. I made a cup of tea in my room
and ate the gels from my race packet.
That’s all I had, but it was better than starting the race on an empty
stomach.
The temperature at the start
was in the upper 40s, and I expected it to get into the low 50s by the time I
finished. They had a gear check, but I
decided I didn’t need to check a gear bag.
I wore a light jacket to the start and tied it around my waist before I
started running. I didn’t think I’d need
any other warm clothes at the finish, and not checking a gear bag saved me time
both before and after the race.
When I left the hotel, I
noticed the streets were wet. I felt a
fine mist in the air. I saw other
runners wearing plastic rain ponchos, and I wondered if I should go back to my
room to get one. First, I doublechecked
the weather app on my phone. It didn’t
show any rain in the forecast, so I assumed the moisture in the air would burn
off.
This is a large race, and I
didn’t know how long it would take to get into the start corral. I’ve done some races where it can take a long
time. I arrived in the start area around
7:10. There was a huge crush of runners
heading to the gear check trucks, but it was fairly easy to get to the corrals.
I regretted leaving the hotel
as early as I did. I used the bathroom
before leaving my room, but I wanted to make another bathroom stop before the
race. The lines for the portable
bathrooms were insanely long, and I didn’t think I had time to get through the
line and still get to my start corral on time.
After looking around for a
while, I found a building with bathrooms.
The lines there weren’t as long, and I got in and out quickly. Then I headed to the corrals.
There were nine start
corrals. The first one was for elite
athletes. The second one was identified
as “Hall of Fame.” I’m not sure, but that
might have been for legacy runners. The
next six corrals, labeled A-F, were assigned according to our qualifying
times. Finally, corral G was for runners
who didn’t submit a qualifying time.
Those runners started in the back.
That’s significant, since the race had a five-hour time limit.
I was assigned to corral
B. All the runners in this corral
submitted qualifying times between 3:20 and 3:40. As a hedge against starting too fast, I lined
up near the back of the corral.
A runner next to me asked me in
English how many I had done. I told him
how many marathons I had run, but that wasn’t what he meant. He said, “No. No. How many countries?” He had noticed that I was wearing a Marathon
Globetrotters hat. I told him this would
be my 47th country. He was from Denmark,
and he has also run marathons in several different countries. We talked until the race started.
As I started running, there was
enough congestion in front of me to hold me back a little. It took less than a minute for that to clear
up. As everyone from my corral found their
pace, I was able to run mine without being held up. Then I found the pace to be a little
tiring. I wouldn’t know for sure,
however, until I got a split from my watch.
The course was marked in
kilometers, but I’m used to pacing myself by miles. My watch is configured for miles, so I used
the watch for pacing, but I still appreciated see the more frequent kilometer
signs, so I could see my progress on the course.
We ran south from Gwanghwamun
Square until we reached Sungnyemun Gate.
We made a sharp turn there and followed the road back Eulji-ro, which is
a wide east-west avenue. Then we began
an out-and-back section that was about 3K in each direction.
My goal for this race was to
break 3:50, which is the Boston qualifying standard for my age group. To do that, I need an average pace of 8:47
per mile. My fastest recent race that
wasn’t downhill was an average pace of 8:28 per mile. I was hoping to keep my pace in the 8:30s or
8:40s. The first mile felt like it was
too fast, so I was surprised to see that I ran it in 8:36. That was within my target range, so it
should’ve felt more manageable.
Early in the second mile, I
noticed a pace group in front of me. The
pace makers could be identified by large gray balloons that were tied to their
clothing by long narrow ribbons. They
also wore signs on their backs that read, “Pace Maker.” This was the 3:40 group. I saw two 3:40 pace makers in my corral. This one must have lined up in the very back
of the corral, and had only recently passed me.
In the next mile, I found
myself inadvertently following the 3:40 group.
That led me to run that mile much too fast. When I saw that I ran an 8:13 mile, I
realized I needed to slow down. In a
large race, I have a tendency to run at the pace of the runners around me. To slow down to a more reasonable pace, I
needed to unhitch myself from the runners around me and drift back until I
found a pace that was sustainable.
By now, I was starting to see
the elite athletes coming back on the opposite side of the street. I saw a few leaders, then a chase group, then
another chase group. What started as a
trickle would eventually turn into a stampede by the time I reached the
turnaround myself.
We turned around by making a
loop around the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, which is a distinctive round
building. After a full loop around the
plaza, we were on the opposite side of the street.
Running in this direction, I
started to notice a cold wind. We had
the wind at our back going out, but now we had a headwind.
When I finished the third mile,
I saw that I had slowed down, but not enough.
I was still going faster than my target range.
At 5K, we reached an aid
station. I saw several tables with
water, but no sports drinks. I
reluctantly drank a cup of water.
Eventually, I started to see tables with their sports drink. I didn’t want to drink another cup already,
so I waited until the next aid station.
I made a mental note to run past all the water tables and keep going
until I saw a table with blue cups.
When I finished that mile, it
was slower than my target range. I had a
wide range, but I couldn’t seem to hit it.
Three of the first four miles were either too fast or too slow. I should have attributed the slow mile to
time lost because of slowing down at the aid station. Instead, I picked up my pace and started
keeping up with the runners around me.
Before the race, I looked at
the course map to see where the aid stations would be. The map showed water stations every 5K and
stations in between with sponges. I was
hoping the sponge stations would also have water and sports drink, but I
wouldn’t know until I got there.
When I reached the aid station
at 7.5K, I saw a table covered with white sponges. Then I saw another table with sponges. There was a wide spacing between tables. As I passed more and more sponge tables, I
kept hoping I would eventually see a table with cups. Nope.
I counted nine or ten table with sponges, but that was it. Now I knew for sure. I would only get fluids every five
kilometers. Fortunately, it wasn’t a hot
day.
By the end of this out-and-back
section, I started to recognize things.
I saw an entrance for a subway station that was familiar. I knew I was close to a neighborhood that I
had explored on Friday. I also started
to see road signs identifying places that were familiar to me. We were back in a familiar part of the city.
We turned right, ran two
blocks, and then turned right again. Now
we were starting a longer out-and-back section.
Now we were on Cheonggyecheon-ro, which is a divided street. There was a stream in between the two sides
of the road. That made it harder to see
runners coming back on the other side of the street.
After one mile in the 8:50s,
the next two were in the 8:20s. Running
with the pack was still leading me to go too fast. I had to unhitch myself again.
Running in this direction, I
had the wind at my back. I felt warmer,
so I took my gloves off and put them in my fanny pack.
At 10K, there was another aid
station. I finally had another
opportunity to try the sports drink instead of water. The sports drink at this race was called
Pocari Sweat. Aside from sounding
unappetizing, that name led me to believe it was an electrolyte drink. I didn’t know if it also had sugar until I
tried it. It tasted sweet. That was a relief. I was really counting on that, so I could
take in some calories during the race.
The first cup I grabbed wasn’t
very full. After drinking that, I went
to the next table and drank another cup.
With fluid stations 5K apart, I needed to make sure I drank enough at
each one.
In that mile, I slowed into the
8:40s. It was only the second time in
seven miles that I hit my target range.
It probably would have been too fast if not for slowing down to drink
twice at the aid station.
At about 12K, I was passed by a
runner with a thin ribbon attached to his shirt. At first, I thought he was a pace maker, and
I wondered what his target time was.
When his balloon came into sight, I saw that it wasn’t gray like the
balloons of the pace makers. His was
white with a red cross symbol. He had a
small pack on his upper back. I assume
that was a first aid kit. Most large
races will have medical personnel at the aid stations, but this was the first
time I ever saw a medic who was running the course.
After running one mile that was
slower than the others, I started to follow the pack again. I sped up to 8:17. I just couldn’t get it right. Of the first eight miles, five were too fast,
one was too slow, and only two were at a pace that seemed reasonable.
At around 14K, we turned to
cross a bridge over the stream. Then we
started coming back on the other side.
As I was making that turn, I was passed by a faster runner who was frantically
weaving around the other runners. One of
her feet hooked one of my feet, but I was able to keep my balance. That was about the fifth time that one of my
feet was impacted by another runner. I
was being careful to avoid the runners around me, but I couldn’t easily avoid a
runner who was coming up fast from behind and weaving around people. It was annoying, but I always kept my feet
under me.
As we started heading west
again, I felt the headwind again. Before
it felt cold. Now it felt somewhat
tiring. I had to fight this wind for the
next few miles, but I took consolation in knowing that we would soon start a
much longer section with the wind at our backs.
My pace settled down now. For the next two miles, I had splits in the
8:30s or 8:40s.
As we reached the end of this
out-and-back section, I once again saw an entrance for a familiar subway
station. I also started to see road
signs identifying familiar sites. We were
coming back into central Seoul for the last time.
We made two quick turns and
then started running east again. This
section was about 10 kilometers long, and we would have the wind at our backs
the whole way.
My pace continued to be
erratic. In one mile I’d go too fast,
and in the next mile I would slow down into my target range. When I reached the halfway mark, I fully
expected my time to be unreasonably fast.
It was 1:52:46, putting me on pace for a time between 3:45 and
3:46. That actually seemed quite
reasonable. Maybe my target range was
too slow.
At the halfway point, they had
gels. I don’t usually eat gels during a
race, but I was worried about taking in enough calories. I’m used to brands of gels that are thick and
sticky, and need to be washing down with water.
The gels on the course were the same brand as the ones in my race
packet. Having tried two of these gels
before the race, I knew that they weren’t that thick. I could easily eat one without following it
with water, so I had one.
With the race half over, and
the wind at my back for another five miles, I felt more confident. I was more willing to run with the pack and
have mile splits in the 8:20s. My next
few miles were all between 8:20 and 8:30, but I was OK with that.
Between 25K and 26K, we went
through a short tunnel. We went down a
ramp going into the tunnel, so I knew it would be slightly uphill coming out of
the tunnel. This is a fairly flat
course. Up until now, we hadn’t run
anything that looked or felt like a hill.
I knew from looking at the elevation profile that there weren’t any big
hills. The largest rise is about 20
meters.
Most of the aid stations were
pretty close to a multiple of 5K. The
“25K” aid station was an exception. It
actually came after the 26K sign. This
was another aid station where I had to drink two cups of Pocari Sweat, because
the first cup wasn’t full enough.
As I slowed down at that aid
station, I was passed by a runner with a gray balloon. I knew he was a pace maker, but I didn’t know
what his target time was. I was curious,
so I picked up my pace to catch up to him.
It wasn’t easy. He was clearly
going at a pace that wasn’t comfortable for me, and I had to get close before I
could read the time written on his balloon.
He was another 3:40 pace maker.
I can only assume that there
were two 3:40 groups. One started in
corral B, and the other started in corral C.
3:40 was the dividing line between those two corrals. The start times of the corrals were
staggered, so he probably started two minutes after I did. It took 26K for him to catch up to me. Once I knew what pace he was running, I
stopped trying to keep up with him.
Between 27K and 28K, I saw
another gradual hill ahead. This time,
we were coming up to a bridge. When I
saw we were crossing a river, I initially through it was the Han River, which
is the major river dividing northern and southern Seoul. Then I realized it couldn’t be the Han. My recollection from the course map was that
we wouldn’t cross that river until we were close to finishing. I also realized that this river wasn’t nearly
wide enough to be the Han. It was
actually the Jungnangcheon, which is a stream that feeds the Han.
Shortly after crossing the
bridge, we turned more to the south.
Then we turned to run west. I had
to fight a headwind again, and it was stronger now. When I got to the aid station at 30K, cups
were blowing off the tables.
After all the fluid tables, I
saw tables with bananas that were cut in half.
I already drank a cup of Pocari Sweat, but I decided to eat half a
banana too. I was still concerned about
taking in enough calories, and a banana was something else I could eat without
having to wash it down. I quickly
removed the peel and tossed it all the way to the curb, so nobody would step on
it and slip. Banana peels at an aid
station can be dangerous.
We ran into the wind for about
two kilometers. I picked up my effort to
keep from slowing down on this section.
I started to pass other runners for the first time in the race. I could still see the 3:40 pace maker, and
for about a mile I wasn’t falling any farther behind him.
Between 32K and 33K, we turned,
and we were out of the wind. I was
working harder and harder to keep up my pace, so I was disappointed when I
realized that I had failed to notice when my watch recorded a split for 20
miles. I really wanted to know if I was
keeping up the same pace.
After about a kilometer, we
turned again. Presumably we had a
tailwind, but I really didn’t notice.
Now I was just trying to grind it out.
Mile 21 was barely within my target range, It was my second slowest mile so far, which
made me wonder what my pace was in mile 20.
In the next two miles, I got my
pace back down into the 8:30s, but I had to work harder and harder to keep up
the pace. I only had a few miles to go
now, so I fought for it.
Next, we turned and started
climbing up to another bridge. As I got
closer, I could see that this was a long bridge. We were crossing the Han.
It was slightly uphill coming
up to the bridge, but the bridge itself was flat. It was also long. The river is about a kilometer wide.
As I was crossing the bridge,
my watch recorded a split for mile 24, but I never noticed the vibration from
my watch. That was disappointing. I really wanted to know if I was slowing
down.
Shortly after that, I saw the
39K sign, and I realized I had almost exactly two miles to go. I looked at my watch to see how much time I
had to break 3:50. It was immediately obvious
that I would break 3:50 by a comfortable margin. It seemed unlikely, however, that I could run
negative splits.
Even though a BQ was in the
bag, and running negative splits seemed out of reach, I continued to
fight. I was determined not to slow down
in these last two miles. It was a matter
of pride.
When I eventually got off the
bridge, there was a nice downhill section.
I raced the downhill to the best of my ability.
As I reached the bottom of the
hill, I saw a tall building ahead on my left.
It was the Lotte World Mall. This
is a major tourist attraction, but I never took the time to go there. It’s not a big draw for me, and getting to
this part of town and back would take too long.
At we reached Lotte World, we
turned right, and I saw the 40K sign.
About the same time, my watch recorded a split for mile 25. I sped up to 7:57. That was by far my fastest mile of the
race. It included the ramp down from the
bridge, but I was still surprised to have run it that fast.
After the turn, I felt a
headwind again. I realized I would be
running into this wind all the way to the Jamsil Sports Complex. I was still determined to finish strong, so I
fought hard to keep up the same pace.
When I reached the 41K sign, I
told myself I just had 1200 meters to go.
That’s like three laps around a track.
200 meters later, I saw a “1 KM to go” sign. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in a race
before.
I kept fighting and before I
knew it, by watch was recording a split for mile 26. It was 8:09.
That wasn’t as fast as the previous mile, but it was still my second
fastest mile of the race.
I could see that I still had
much more than two tenths of a mile to go.
My watch was reading high. I
could not yet see the last turn that comes before the finish line.
I kept going, and I saw a sign
indicating we were approaching a right turn.
I looked ahead, and I could see the turn. Having seen a map of the finish area, I knew
that this was the last turn, and I would be able to see the finish line as soon
as I turned the corner.
I turned the corner, saw the
finish line, and sprinted for it. I
probably ran faster here than anywhere else on the course. It helped that I was no longer fighting a
headwind.
I finished the race in
3:44:33. I was shocked to see that I ran
negative splits after all. I never
imagined I would run the last two miles that fast.
After crossing the line, we had
to keep moving forward and turn a corner.
They had provided us with a detailed map of the finish area, so I knew
the medals and post-race food were around the corner.
As I moved through the finisher
chute, I drank a cup of Pocari Sweat.
There were volunteers handing out water bottles, but I skipped those,
knowing there were more beverages ahead.
Most of the post-race snacks
were in a pre-assembled snack bag. Then
we got three bottles of an oat-based protein drink called Oatside. Each bottle was a different flavor. I drank one bottle right away and put the
other two in my snack bag.
As I was leaving the finisher
chute, I realized I didn’t have a medal yet.
I looked around to see if other runners had their medals. I saw a runner wearing a medal and asked him
where he got it. There were volunteers
with medals just past the post-race food.
I walked back to the food
area. I saw runners coming out of that
area wearing medals, but I also saw runners who weren’t wearing medals. I understood the disparity when I finally
found one of the volunteers handing out medals.
They weren’t putting them around our necks. The medals were handed to us in small plastic
bags. Some runners were opening the bags
and putting on the medals. Others just
carried them.
After getting my medal, I put
on my gloves and jacket and hurried to the subway station. I wanted to get indoors before I got too
cold. I was comfortable while I was
running, but my hands started getting cold as soon as I stopped.
It took about 45 minutes to get
back to my hotel. I had enough post-race
snacks that I didn’t need to eat lunch.
Instead, I spent the whole afternoon relaxing and recovering in my hotel
room.
For most of the afternoon, I
could hear chanting that I assume was coming from a Buddhist temple near the
hotel. It was surprisingly loud. With my windows open, I could hear it all the
way up on the 17th floor.
I had dinner with another
runner from the U.S., who I met before the race. We went to the same restaurant where I had
dinner on Thursday. It was the only
restaurant I knew where I could get a pizza with Korean BBQ to celebrate my
Korean BQ.
I always sleep best after an
exhausting race. That night, I slept
well all night.
Monday, March 18
I flew home on Monday, but my
flight wasn’t until later in the day, so I still had time to do more
sightseeing.
After breakfast, I did a
workout at the hotel. Then I did a
self-guided walking tour of the Bukchon hanok village.
Now I’m at the airport getting
ready to fly home. In this direction,
the flight isn’t quite as long, but it’s still more than 12 hours. This time, I’m going to try to sleep on the
flight.
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