2012 Son Kee-Chung Peace Marathon

My Insane Asylum roomies

       Time for another race report! This one will be short though as it was a pretty typical half marathon.

       The race itself, The 2012 Son Kee Chung Peace Marathon is a memorial race to honor the first Korean to win an Olympic Medal. At the time, Korea was part of the Japanese Empire so he was forced to use a Japanese adaptation of his name, Son Kitei, and be listed for their country at the Berlin 1936 Olympics, but Korea knows who he belongs to!

      When I registered for this race, I was hoping it would be a PR effort, but as is often the case, the stars didn’t line up and I was fighting a head cold, had only run one 5K since the marathon 2 weeks before, and hadn’t slept worth a darn so I was just hoping to finish without embarrassing myself. It was cold and crisp, but really nice after about the second mile when I found myself with my vest around my waist and my hat and gloves held in my hands.

      The course was nice. Instead of our usual route along the Han River, we turned south along a small creek with a nice bike path. Unfortunately, the path was quite narrow and once the bulk of the runners started hitting the turn around, it got very congested.

      It took me forever to warm up, but by the turn around I finally felt comfortable running and my second half was much better than my first. I finished feeling good and happy, which is always my top goal. It is so awesome to finish inside Korea’s Olympic stadium! I collected my snacks and medal, changed into dry clothes, and then waited for two friends to finish the full marathon. They did great, both getting close to their PR times.

The Marathon Maniacs of South Korea post 5K

      Next Marathon, Dec. 1st !