“I’ll Break the Record”

“Take some notice of the women’s team too.”

At the 2005 Seoul International Marathon and the 76th Dong-A Marathon women’s division, Chinese, African and European athletes are attempting to renew the tournament record (2 hours 23 minutes 18 seconds, 2003 Zhang Shu-jin)

Chinese athletes such as Zhang Shu-jin (25, personal record two hours 23 minutes 17 seconds), Zhou Chun-xiu (26, personal record two hours 23 minutes 28 seconds), Wei Ya-nan (24, personal record two hours 24 minutes two seconds) are competing for the record.

Zhang Shu-jin, who won the 2003 marathon with a new record, is especially strong at Korean courses with a history of coming in third place at last year’s marathon and coming in first at the 2004 Asian Marathon Championship.

Zhou Chun-xiu is the “Chinese woman power” who now ranks 6th worldwide by coming in at two hours 23 minutes 28 seconds in last year’s Xiamen marathon. Along with Zhang Shu-jin, it is anticipated that she will lead the race.

After escaping the drug scandal and receiving intense winter training, it will also be interesting to watch Wei Ya-nan’s “song of revival.”

Ethiopia’s “black pearl” Worknesh Tola (25, two hours 25 minutes 42 seconds) is also a formidable athlete. She came in second place for two consecutive years until last year. Due to the heartache of letting Lee Eun-jeong (two hours 27 minutes 17 seconds) win the race by five seconds even after maintaining the lead through most of the race, she has returned to Seoul.

The champion of the 2004 Amsterdam Marathon, Slovenian veteran Helena Javornik (38, two hours 27 minutes, 32 seconds) is also lying in ambush.

The Seoul International Marathon bureau is planning to encourage the renewal of the tournament’s female record by entering a large number of pacemakers who will lead the race to the shorter end of two hours and 20 minutes.

On the other hand, Korean athletes Oh Jeong-hee (27, Samsung Electronics) and newcomer Chae Eun-hee (23, Kolon) are dreaming of becoming “the second Lee Eun-jeong.”

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com