Purme Foundation holds Miracle 365 Marathon in Seoul

The 2019 Miracle 365 Run, which will commemorate the third anniversary of the inauguration of the Purme Foundation Nexon Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital, will take place at the Sangam-dong area in Seoul’s Mapo district at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The run is a health marathon, which offers four courses including 3 kilometers, 5 kilometers, 7 kilometers and 8 kilometers. The run will start at Culture Tank on Jeungsan-ro Street in Mapo and finish at the hospital on World Cup Buk-ro Street.

Miracle 365 Run is part of the “Miracle of 10,000 Won” campaign, for which Sean, a Goodwill Ambassador for the Purme Foundation, has been donating 3,650,000 won yearly by saving 10,000 won daily since 2012. Based on the belief that small donations made significant contributions to the construction of Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital, the event is convened as a way to continue the “Miracle of 10,000 won” campaign to help ensure the hospital will operate efficiently and to give more children with disabilities opportunities to receive rehabilitation therapy.

More than 700 people are taking part in the event, in which the entire 30,000 won in a participant’s fee will be donated as fund for treatment of children with disabilities. Most of the participants were from more than 10 “Crew” teams, which are running clubs for 20-something and 30-something people, and university student runners.

Participants hope to contribute to raising 3,650,000 won by chipping in 30,000 won each in participant’s fee, while 14 sponsor companies donated 3,650,000 won, adding to the meaning of the charitable event. More than 70 million won in donations has been raised through the run this year. As many as 12 companies have made in-kind donations. “We have been holding the event for three consecutive years, and a growing number of younger generation people, who support our cause, are applying to take part year after year,” said Jeong Tae-yeong, a senior official at the foundation.

Sean will perform after the show, and singer BewhY and Zion.t will show appreciation for the passion of the participants by performing at the 'After Party' after the marathon is over. The organizers of the contest said, "It is a trend of the donation marathon recently to have fun after the event and to reflect on the significance of the contest."


Won-Joo Lee takeoff@donga.com