The 11th Gyeonggi Marathon took place near Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province on April 14. Roughly ten thousand marathoners came from all over the nation to test their strength and endurance. They all seem to have their own reasons for taking part in the race.

- I’ve been running marathons for eight years now and completed the full course 98 times. My personal best is three hours and 45 minutes. My goal is to complete 100 races before this year is up. I started running in earnest in 2006, because of my health. But now I’m addicted to marathon and take part in about fifteen races per year.
- I started running in the early 20s, so that makes it 18 years so far. I can feel my body getting healthier the more I run, and I experience ecstasy when I overcome human limitations and win a battle of will with myself.
- I started back in 2003, so I’ve been running for ten years. This year’s goal is to run with my school friends and complete the half course together.

There were four courses– full course, half course, 10 kilometers, and five kilometers. So an amateur marathoner can choose a course that best suits his or her physical state and experience. Marathon is a lonely sport, a fight against oneself, but the number of marathoners is growing every year. Here’s Kim Yeon-su, CEO of Sports and People, a marathon and other sporting events organizer.

The marathon population has been growing for ten years now. Ten years ago most of the marathoners were serious runners, but soon marathon clubs for amateur runners began to emerge and peaked about five years ago. If most of the marathoners back then were in their 40s and 50s, now they have grown much younger. Also, they tended to run full courses to test their limitations, but now there are many runners who participate in marathons for fun, with family and friends. Today there are fewer marathoners who are in competition running and more and more marathoners are members of friendly race clubs.

Marathon has long been considered one of the most challenging events, even in the Olympics, but it has now become a popular sport among ordinary people. Now that a marathon fever has gripped the nation, assorted sports brands take advantage of the trend and hold their own marathon competitions. In Korea alone about 250 different races take place in a year. What is so great about running for over 42 kilometers? Let’s find out in today’s episode of Trend Korea.

Marathon’s origin dates back to 490 BC, when a Greek messenger named Pheidippides ran all the way from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens, a distance of 42 kilometers, to deliver the news of Greece’s victory over the Persians. Modern day marathon was instituted as an official track and field event in the first Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, but the race course spanning 42.195 kilometers was officially adopted in 1908 for the fourth Olympic Games in London. Nowadays African runners dominate the podiums of marathon events, but Korean marathoners have also made indelible marks in the history of world marathon.

Olympic triumphs of Korean-born marathoners began in 1936, when Sohn Kee-chung won the men’s marathon in the Berlin Olympics. About six decades later Hwang Young-cho took gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics and Lee Bong-ju won silver in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Lee also won the event in the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, and the 2001 Boston Marathon, earning a place among the world’s elite long-distance runners. The Boston Marathon, one of the four largest races in the world, means a lot to Korean runners. Before the government of the Republic of Korea was established, Suh Yun-bok finished first in the 1947 Boston Marathon, becoming the first Asian runner to win the prestigious race. Then something more amazing happened. In the 1950 Boston Marathon three Korean marathoners – Ham Kee-yong, Song Gil-yoon and Choi Yun-chil – stunned the world by winning first, second, and third place.

Running 42.195 kilometers without stopping has long been thought too daunting and has discouraged recreational runners from even attempting it in the first place. But as people’s interest in health grew, even ordinary people began to face the challenge. We met one such marathoner at a fitness club.

I run marathons almost every week, so I have to train on the treadmill three or four times a week to keep up.

Yun Dong-ki is 57 years old this year and has taken up marathon in 2005. Since then he has completed 140 full-course races and twenty 100-kilometer marathons. He started running for his health, but now has become totally addicted to it.

I had a busy work life as a mid-level manager, but as I went up the corporate ladder, I found more time to look after my health and realized that I needed to be more physically fit as I grew older. That’s why I took up running and now I’m addicted to marathon. I run in more marathons, almost one every week.

Yun races in between 20 to 30 marathon races per year, so running long-distance has become an indispensable part of his life. What is it about marathon that’s so appealing to him?

At around the 35-kilometer mark I tend to be in agony no matter how much training I go through. But I enjoy even that pain. I feel the limit of human endurance at 35 kilometers, but that’s what attracts me. Other people give up then because the pain is too great, but I enjoy that extreme physical state. After I overcome that, I feel a sense of achievement for conquering another difficulty.

Marathon is one sport that rewards a person’s lonely struggle against oneself. When a marathoner crosses the finish line after running for 42.195 kilometers, that runner is sure to feel ecstatic instead of tired. Yun wasn’t a great runner from the beginning. He can still remember back to his first marathon and how he wanted to give up in the middle.

I can still remember it vividly. The last 100 meter was the hardest. My feet wouldn’t move, so I had to drag my feet across the finish line. I had to sit down for 30 minutes before I had the strength to go change my clothes. And my legs hurt so badly the next day that I couldn’t go to work. I always considered myself very resilient, but in that race my feet didn’t move like I wanted them to.

He went through the same agony for the first ten races, but since then he learned to enjoy even the tortuous part of the sport.

Amateur marathoners like Yun prepare for weekend races usually by training in the gym or running along the Han River during the weekdays.

Marathon doesn’t require any special skills, but steady training is a must because a runner must keep on moving for a long time. In order to avoid injury and complete the race, one must undergo a training routine, which usually includes 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter runs and at least a 20-plus-kilometer run once a week. Here’s KBS marathon commentator Lee Eui-su.

Marathon is not a technical game, so effort and mental strength are more important than any skills. A marathoner must work on endurance, because that’s the most important physical requirement. Not only that, today’s world-class marathoners also have speed. We can often see competitors running neck to neck until the finish line. So modern marathon calls for both endurance and speed.

Breaking personal records and setting loftier goals make people fall in love with marathon, says KBS marathon commentator Lee Eui-su.

You don’t need any special equipment or techniques to run a marathon, which is what vitalized the sport. A runner doubts whether he or she can run even 10 kilometers at first, but eventually ten kilometers are completed and you aim for the full course. As you watch yourself getting better, you want to run even longer and faster. Marathon makes you challenge yourself continuously. People would think at first that only competitive runners would finish 42.195 kilometers, but they soon realize that they can do it too and gain confidence to run more races.

The popularity of marathon gave rise to a number of marathon clubs in most workplaces. Running a marathon is the greatest way to boost physical endurance and foster teamwork, as well as work off stress.

Since everyone seems to be running, people talk about marathons all the time. If people don’t run, they can’t join in the conversation, so they give it a try and get hooked. Most major marathon races are televised these days. The Seoul International Marathon takes place in downtown Seoul and those watching people run through the middle of Seoul tend to think about running marathons themselves. Some companies even look for marathoners for their new recruits. I know of one company that offers bonuses to their new hires if they bring proof that they have completed a ten-kilometer marathon.

Ten minutes after the start of the race, people started crossing the five-kilometer line.

- I feel great. I ran without a break. I recorded 16 minutes
- It’s so hard. It’s my first time running the five-kilometer course. I think I can take up the ten-kilometer course next time.
- It’s great to spend my day off like this, sweating and de-stressing. I came in the early 18 minutes.
- I’ll have to run faster next time. It’s nice that I get the result I worked for.

A little after two hours and thirty minutes, the first runner to complete the whole course showed up near the finish line.

Legendary marathoner Lee Bong-ju, taking part in the 11th Gyeonggi Marathon for the “Beat Lee Bong-ju” event, finished his third full-course race since his retirement and his 44th overall.

I finished the full course at this marathon last year, and completed this year, too. I was in third place last year, so finishing first was my goal for this year. I used to run for better records and medals, but now I run with others and enjoy the races more.

Coming in behind Lee Bong-ju was Song Ki-san of a marathon club in Suwon. Clocking in at mere 20 seconds behind Lee, Song was the winner of the amateur division.

Marathoners learn to enjoy life’s difficulties by running these races. Every time they overcome a critical moment, a moment they want to just give up, they gain the energy and confidence to carry on in their lives, too.

Only when a marathoner paces himself and doesn’t overdo it can he finish the whole race. Life is just like that. In a time of crisis, one needs to remain calm and go with the flow before finding a solution. That’s the life lesson one learns by running a marathon.