Race Report: Andorra la Vella Marathon

I belong to two running clubs that are all about running marathons in different countries.  One is Marathon Globetrotters.  The other is the Country Marathon Club.  Sometimes, a member of one of these clubs will organize a marathon in a country that doesn’t have one.  That was the case with the Andorra la Vella Marathon.

In July, I learned that several runners were planning to run marathons in Andorra, Gibraltar, San Marino, and Monaco, all within an 8-day span in November.  The first three races were small races organized by club members.  The race in Monaco was an existing race.

I chose to just do the race in Andorra.  I passed on the race in Gibraltar, because the other people running this race were planning to stay in Spain and just make a day trip into Gibraltar.  Likewise, I skipped the race in San Marino, because they were planning to stay in Italy and just make a day trip into San Marino.  I would’ve been interested in running marathons in these counties, but only if I was going to stay overnight and have a chance to do some sightseeing there.

I passed on the race in Monaco, because it was an 8-day race.  The other runners were planning to arrive on the second day and run just long enough to finish 26.2 miles.  If I was going to do a multi-day race, I would want to run as far as I could.

Andorra is a small country in the Pyrenees, between Spain and France.  The race was in Andorra la Vella, which is the capital of Andorra.

Friday, November 8

I arrived in Spain on Friday, after an overnight flight to Amsterdam, a 3-hour layover, and a connecting flight into Barcelona.  I wasn’t going to meet up with the other runners until Saturday, so I had an afternoon and evening on my own in Barcelona.

Hotels near the popular tourist destinations were expensive, so I stayed at a hotel that was closer to the airport.  I’ve been to Barcelona before, so I didn’t need to do all the sightseeing again.

After getting settled in at my hotel, I went for a run.  My hotel was about two miles from the Magic Fountain of Montjuic.  The fountain is currently shut down because of draught conditions, but it was a familiar landmark.  I started by running to the fountain.  From there, I gradually worked my way up Montjuic until I reached the Olympic Stadium, which is at the top of the hill.  I took a different route down.  I had to detour around some construction, but I eventually found my way back to the hotel.

There weren’t many restaurants near my hotel, so I spent the evening in the city center, where there are lots of dinner options.

I had been awake since the previous morning, so I had no trouble getting to sleep.

Saturday, November 9

I didn’t need to be up early, but I set an alarm, so I could force myself to get used to the local time zone.  That gave me time to do a workout at the hotel before leaving for Andorra.

The original plan was to meet at the airport and carpool to Andorra, but that turned out to be complicated.  It’s a three-hour drive through the mountains, and we would be required to have snow tires and chains.  Also, everything in Andorra la Vella was close enough that we wouldn’t need a car while we were there.

There are two different companies with express buses from Barcelona to Andorra la Vella, so most of us took a bus.  I caught the bus at a bus station outside Barcelona’s central train station.

The bus ride took about three hours.  There wasn’t a bathroom on the bus, so I was really glad I used the bathroom at the bus station before boarding the bus.  We drove through a little bit of rain, but it wasn’t raining when we arrived in Andorra.

From the bus station in Andorra la Vella, I was able to walk to my hotel.  I stayed at the same hotel where packet pickup was held.  It was about a block away from the small city park where the race started.

After checking in, I attended a pre-race briefing and picked up my race number.  Then several us walked out to where the race would start in the morning,

I spent the rest of the afternoon sightseeing.  Andorra la Vella is in a valley.  From different places in the city, you can get views of the surrounding mountains.

One of the attractions is Casa de la Vall.  This historic manor, built in the 16th century, was formerly the headquarters of the Consell General, which is the oldest parliament in Europe.

Another attraction is the Church of Saint Esteve.  This church dates back to the 12th century.

A river runs through the city, and there are a number of interesting bridges.

There are also several interesting sculptures around town.

For dinner, I went to an Italian restaurant near my hotel.  For the record, I’ve now had pizza in 51 countries.

Sunday, November 10

Sunday was race day.  The race was originally scheduled at start at 9:00, but there was an early start at 7:30 for runner who needed extra time.  When I found out everyone else was taking the 7:30 start, I decided to also start at 7:30.  We met in the lobby at 7:10 and walked to the start together.

The temperature was about 40 degrees at the start and climbed into the upper 40s during the race.  I was expecting to go at a slow pace, so I dressed warmer than I normally would.

The course was a loop that we ran five times.  We started at Parc Central.  From there, we ran on a bike path alongside the river for about 2.6 miles before coming back on the other side of the river.

In general, we were always on the left side of the river, but there were a few exceptions.  Sometimes, we had to cross a street, and there was only a crosswalk on one side of the river.  In those spots, we would cross the river, cross the street at the crosswalk, and then cross the river again on the other side of the street.

This was a small race, with only 31 runners.  There weren’t any aid stations, so I needed to carry a bottle with me.  There was a drinking fountain in the start/finish area, where I could refill my bottle after each lap.  I brought a few packets of Gatorade powder, so I could mix it each time I refilled my bottle.

When Raoul, our race director, measured the course on Saturday, he found it to be a little short.  To make up the distance, we needed to do two laps of a much shorter loop.  Raoul called these “penalty laps.”  We ran our “penalty laps” first, which gave Raoul time to begin marking the turns on the main loop.

By the time we finished our first “penalty lap,” it was clear that there were four runners who were starting much faster than everyone else.  I started out at an easy pace.  I quickly found myself trailing the four leaders, but I was ahead of everyone else.

Some of the runners had walked the entire loop on Saturday, so they were familiar with all the turns, and in particular, they knew were to turn around.  I wanted to follow somebody who knew the course, and it quickly appeared that the only way I could do that was to stay within sight of the four leaders.

I accelerated enough to keep from falling too far behind.  I ran the first mile in 9:05.  That’s faster than I was planning to run, but it wouldn’t break me to run at that pace for a few miles.

The second mile was faster.  I ran that one in 8:12, but I was still barely keeping pace with the leaders.  That pace felt a little tiring, but not as tiring as I would have expected.  I didn’t realize it yet, but as soon as we started our first full lap, we were going downhill.

In the first half of each lap, we were following the river downstream.  The river descended fairly rapidly.  There were rapids almost everywhere.  That made the fast pace seem deceptively easy.

Before the turnaround, we crossed Pont de Madrid, which is an easy landmark to recognize.  We were still on the same bike path, but now we were on the opposite side of the river.

Next, we ran by this gas station.  I knew the turnaround was somewhere near the gas station, but I didn’t know exactly where.  It was the first place after the gas station where there was a road going to the right.

By the time we reached the turn, I was catching up to the four leaders.  Then we made a big 180 degree turn that led us onto a street that gradually brought as back toward the river.  We ran on a sidewalk until we got back to the river.

Immediately after the turn, we started climbing.  Going uphill, I could no longer keep up with the leaders.  I dropped farther and farther behind, but I worked to at least keep them in sight.

As the road came back to the river, we got onto a bike path again.  Later, as we ran by a large athletic complex, the paved bike path was replaced by a rubberized surface resembling a track.  I enjoyed running this section, but I was still falling farther behind the leaders.

In our pre-race briefing, Raoul had told us that there was a place where the path would end, and we would have to cross the river.  I knew we were getting close to it, when I got a glimpse of two of the leaders on the other side of the river.  I wanted to keep at least one of them in sight long enough to see where we crossed the river again to get back on the left side.

I saw one runner making that turn.  By the time I got there, I had lost sight of everyone ahead of me, but I recognized where I was.  I was about to run past the bus station.  I knew the way from there, because I had walked from the bus station to my hotel on Saturday.

By now, another runner had caught up to me.  His name was Ricky, and he was from Denmark.  I ran with Ricky for the rest of the lap.

Lap one was tiring.  In lap two, I slowed down, but only a little.  I was talking to Ricky, and I wanted to keep up with him.  We ran together for all of the second lap.  It wasn’t as fast as my first lap, but it was still tiring.

Halfway through the second lap, as we turned around and got onto the sidewalk, there were several metal posts that we had to avoid.  I got distracted by our conversation and ran into one of them with my right shoulder.  I hit the post so hard that my shoulder hurt for the rest of the race.  It’s good that I didn’t hit my head.

We continued running together for the rest of that lap.  At the end of each lap, we each ran into the park to refill our bottles.  There were bathrooms in the park, so I stopped briefly to pee.  As I was leaving, Ricky told me he was also going to use the bathroom too.  I went ahead and started my third lap, but at a slower pace.

I expected Ricky to catch up to me, but in the meantime, I had time to stop and take a picture.  By now, the morning sun was hitting the mountains ahead of us.  This is the type of view we had throughout the race, as we ran through the river valley.

Ricky caught up to me as I was putting my phone back in my fanny pack.  I ran with him briefly, but I could no longer keep up with him.  I gradually fell behind.

I no longer had any reason to keep running fast.  In the first lap, I was trying to keep the leaders in sight.  In the second lap, I wanted to have someone to run with, so I ran at Ricky’s pace.  Now, I realized I would probably be on my own for the rest of the race.  It was time to slow down.

We were mostly running on bike paths, but there weren’t many bikes.  In my third lap, I was passed by a few bikers, but I didn’t see any before that.

Now that I was going at a slower pace, I could afford to stop and take a few pictures.  All of my pictures of the course were taken in the third lap.  Here’s a picture of the river that I took in the second half of the lap, when I was following the river upstream.

To take pictures, I had to take my gloves off.  It was still too cold for that.  My hands were getting cold, so I had to put my gloves on as soon as I was done taking pictures.

It was during that lap that I reached the halfway mark.  I was on pace to break four hours, but only because I had started fast.  I expected the second half to be slow.

By the time I finished my third lap, I was feeling pressure in my intestines.  I needed to make another bathroom stop when I got back to the start/finish area.  This one was going to take longer, but I was no longer worried about losing time.  The rest of the race was going to be slow anyway.

I had to take my gloves off to use the bathroom.  After my bathroom stop, I didn’t feel any need to put them on again.  It had warmed up noticeably since my previous lap.

I felt a little sluggish as I started my fourth lap.  That didn’t last long.  I was back on the downhill side of the course.  That made it easier to gradually pick up the pace.

About a mile into that lap, I started to feel more pressure in my intestines.  I wasn’t done yet.  I was going to need to make another bathroom stop, and I couldn’t wait a whole lap.

Raoul had told us about some other bathrooms along the route, but I never noticed where they were.  I remembered the gas station just before the turnround.  I knew I could use a bathroom there, but it was still more than a mile away.  I had to hold it in, and running downhill didn’t make it any easier.

When I finally got there, I ran into the gas station and found the bathrooms.  I was in there for a long time, but I was confident I wouldn’t need to stop again.

By the time I left the gas station, my watch was reading just over three hours.  The last time I ran by this gas station, it was still less than two hours.  It had taken me more than an hour to run one lap.  That was discouraging.

As I made the turn and began the uphill half of the loop, I saw a few runners just ahead of me.  At this point in the race, I was sometimes passing slower runners who were a lap behind me.  I caught and passed a couple runners, but one runner was always about the same distance ahead of me.  I eventually realized that he must be on the same lap as me.  I never saw him ahead of me before, so he must have passed me while I was in the gas station.

The first half mile after the turnaround was the steepest.  I always struggled there.  I was working hard to try to catch up to the runner ahead of me.  That was the only reason I worked hard going up this hill.  Having someone to chase kept me motivated.

Now I was hot.  Earlier in the race, I needed the warm clothes I was wearing, but now I felt overdressed.  I would be hot for the rest of the race.

I followed the same runner for the rest of the lap, but I couldn’t catch up to him until he stopped in the start/finish area to get a new bottle.  I needed to stop to refill my own bottle and mix in more Gatorade powder.  By the time I started my last lap, he was well ahead of me again.

On the downhill side of the course, I was able to gain ground.  I caught up to him, and we ran together for a few minutes.  His name was Martin, and he was from France.  We were both on our last lap.

As we got to the steepest part of the descent, I started to pull away from Martin.  I wasn’t trying to get ahead of him, but I always pick up speed going downhill, and it was steepest in the last half mile before the gas station.

When I reached the uphill side of the course, I slowed down substantially.  It helped to know that I was running this for the last time, but it was still a tough uphill grind.

By the time I finished the steepest section, Martin had caught up to me again.  We ran together for the rest of the race.

I was just reading a split from my watch when Martin asked me what distance I had.  I told him I was at 24 miles.  His watch was reading in kilometers.  His was just over 38 kilometers.  As I thought about what was left, I was skeptical that we still had 2.2 miles to go.  I told him if my watch was reading low as we approached the finish, I was going to run an extra “penalty lap.”

We continued, and as we got within sight of the bridge we crossed at the end of each lap, I took another look at my watch.  It was obvious that my watch was going to measure less than a marathon.  Martin’s watch was also coming up short, so instead of crossing the bridge, we each began a “penalty lap.”

I thought for sure that would be enough, but as we ran into the park, my watch was still a little short.  I did a little extra running through the park until my watch read 26.22 miles.  Then I stopped.  I finished in 4:18:52.  Martin’s watch was also still reading short of a marathon.  He continued to run for a few more minutes after I finished.

My second half was more than 20 minutes slower than my first half.  Bathroom stops accounted for at least 10 minutes of that.

After finishing, I talked to a few other runners who were still in the finish area.  Everyone I talked to had the same experience.  Their watches were reading short, so they did extra “penalty laps” to make up the difference.

If this was a certified course, I would trust that the course was measured accurately, and I wouldn’t worry if my watch read low.  It doesn’t happen often, but it happens.  Under the circumstances, we all felt it was important to keep running until our watches had recorded a long enough distance.

How much of a difference was there between the first and second halves of the loop?  Here’s the elevation profile my watch recorded.

Ricky said his legs were already getting sore.  I didn’t have sore legs, but my shoulder still hurt.  When I got back to the hotel, I looked to see if there was a bruise.  I couldn’t see any bruising, but it hurt with any movement.

After I had time to get cleaned up and recover, I went walking with Ricky and Lone, who were both from Denmark.  We walked through a part of the city I had not seen yet.  Then we stopped at a bar for beers.

Later in the afternoon, there was an awards ceremony at the hotel, where everyone received their medal and finisher certificate.

I went to dinner with Ricky, Lone, Raoul, and Peter.  Raoul and Peter are both from Finland.  We wanted to eat right away, but most of the restaurants didn’t open until 7:30 or 8:00.  The restaurant I went to on Saturday opens at 6:30, so we went there.  Everyone seemed happy with that restaurant choice.

Monday, November 11

When I woke up on Monday, I still had some soreness in my shoulder, but it wasn’t as bad.  It no longer hurt to move my arm.  Other than my shoulder, I felt fine.

I had breakfast with the same runners I had dinner with the night before.  After breakfast, I had time to do a workout at the hotel before taking the bus back to Barcelona.  Several of the other runners were on the same bus.

Some of the other runners flew to southern Spain, so they could drive to Gibraltar the next morning.  I was planning to fly home, but first I had one more night in Barcelona.

I stayed at the same hotel in Barcelona, so I was already familiar with everything nearby.  After checking in, I went for a run.  I could’ve run the same route that I ran on Friday, but that would have been too strenuous for a recovery run.  I started with a few level miles.  Then I started up Montjuic, but I didn’t go all the way to the top.

After a quick shower, I went into town. I had a little time before sunset but not much.  I went to La Sagrada Familia.  I toured the basilica in 2017, but it was still under construction.  I wanted to see how it looked now.

I arrived as the sun was going down, so there wasn’t much light for pictures.

While I was there, I randomly bumped into Ricky and Lone.  We stayed to see the basilica at sunset.  Then we went to dinner together.

Tuesday, November 12

I woke up early on Tuesday.  While I was trying to get back to sleep, I heard my phone vibrate.  That surprised me, since I usually put my phone in airplane mode overnight.  I apparently forgot to do that.

I had a series of notifications from Delta Airlines about delays to my flight from Barcelona to New York.  It was originally scheduled to depart at 10:15 AM.  That was delayed to 12:30 PM.  Then it was delayed to 1:45.  Then it was delayed to 3:15.  That last delay meant I would arrive in New York too late to make my connection.

As soon as I was awake enough to be coherent, I called Delta.  They were able to rebook me on different flights.  Instead of connecting in New York, I connected in Atlanta.  That was good news, since it’s easier to make an international connection in Atlanta.  The flight times were similar to my original flights, but my seats were less desirable.  They gave me a $100 credit for the inconvenience.  After I got off the phone, I saw another notification.  My original flight was cancelled and the next available flight to New York wouldn’t be until Thursday.

I had a little bit of a scare when I got to the airport.  I went to a kiosk to print my boarding passes, but it would only give me the boarding pass for my first flight.  It didn’t show me having a second flight.  I could see that flight in the app, but it wouldn’t show me my boarding pass.  Thankfully, the gate agent was able to print my boarding pass.  It would've made me nervous to arrive in Atlanta without a boarding pass.

Race statistics:

Distance:  26.22 miles

Time:  4:18:52

Average Pace:  9:52 per mile

First Half:  1:59:06

Second Half:  2:19:46

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  533

Countries:  50

Race Report: Seoul International Marathon

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.

Race statistics:

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  3:44:33

Average Pace:  5:19 per kilometer (8:34 per mile)

First Half:  1:52:46

Second Half:  1:51:47

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  508

Boston Qualifiers:  163

Countries:  47