10,000 Marathoners Run in Ancient City

Emil Zatopek, the world famous Czech runner, once said, “Birds are born to fly, fishes are born to swim, and men are born to run.”

With around 10,000 runners participating, the 2005 Dong-A Ilbo Gyeongju Open Marathon will take place on October 30 in the “thousand-year-old city” of Gyeongju.

First Masters Competition in Korea-

The Dong-A Ilbo Gyeongju Open Marathon, with started in 1994 as the first masters competition in the nation, has already turned 12 years old. The course usually starts at Expo Park, passes the downtown area and Bomun Lake, and winds its way back to Expo Park, but this year the race starts at Hwangseong Park Citizen Sports Complex and goes through the downtown area. The new course has far less up and downs, making it easier for the runner. On October 30, Gyeongju will have slightly cloudy weather, with a temperature low of six degrees and a high of 14 degrees, the perfect weather for a marathon.

On the day of the race, all participants should be at Hwangseong Park Citizen Sports Complex by 7:00 am. The full-marathon, half-marathon, and 10 km marathon will start in this order at 8:00 am. Recording will be done in the net-time method, where time is counted from the moment the runner touches the mat on the starting line. Therefore participants do not need to be in a hurry to get started.

This race will cut through downtown Gyeongju, so in order to minimize the inconvenience to citizens, there will be a strict limit on the racing time.

The time limit for the full-marathon is five hours, two hours and 30 minutes for the half-marathon, and one hour and thirty minutes for the 10 km marathon. After the time limit, the traffic stop will be lifted, and those still running will need to follow the attendants’ instructions and get on returning vehicles.

Drinking water and sports drinks will be provided every five kilometers and at the finishing line for full-course and half-course runners. Water sponges will be provided every five kilometers after the first 7.5 kilometers.

There will be a total of 10,517 participants in this marathon. A total of 9,296 (88 percent) are men and 1,221 (12 percent) are women. A total of 4,665 will be running in the full-marathon, 3,360 will be in the half-marathon, and 2,492 will be in the 10 km event. The 40’s were the age group with the most participants, with 4,708 runners in the race, followed by the 30’s, which counted 3,590 participants.

Jae-Yun Jung jaeyuna@donga.com