Lee Bong-ju Is “Washed Up” No Longer

As expected, Lee Bong-joo proved himself as the national marathon runner.

Alongside, simple and honest marathoner Lee, who goes by the nickname of “Bong Dal-ee,” many Koreans who care about him and adore him cheered him on.

By the 35km mark, which is referred to as the infamous “heartbreak hill” among marathoners, Lee started to fall behind Paul Kiprop Kirui, Kenya’s marathon star. At the 38km mark, Kirui widened his lead almost to 100m.

For Lee Bong-ju, who was born in 1970 and is 38 years old in Korean years, it seemed almost impossible to catch up. His face began to be covered with sweat.

But right at this moment, Lee heard some voices say. “Break your leg, Bong Dal-ee!” The citizens who were lined on each side of the route were cheering him. The audience was stamping and shouting, “Break your leg Lee Bong-ju, break your leg Bong Dal-ee.”

Lee’s face lit up. By each step, he closed ranks with Kirui and finally passed Kirui at the 40.62km mark.

The 2007 Seoul International Marathon, also known as the 78th Dong-a Marathon, was held on March 18 and jointly sponsored by Dong-a Ilbo and the Seoul Korea Athletics Federation.

Throughout the race, Lee Bong-ju ran to cheers by Korean onlookers.

Lee turned the tide in a late burst by passing Kirui (2:08:29) and crossed the finish line first with a time of 2 hours 8 minutes and 4 seconds.

This was an amazing record that gave hope to the Korean marathon runners, who have leveled off recently.

Lee’s mark was a record for a Korean in national marathon events.

Lee set a record for being the oldest marathon runner among Koreans (36 years, 5 months, and 7 days old) to set a world mark. Portuguese runner Carlos Ropez, who had run in a time of 2:07:12 at the Rotterdam Marathon, holds the world best record for age (38 years, 2 months, and 2 days old).

Lee had not won an international meet since the Boston Marathon six years ago, and it has been 12 years since he won the 1995 Donga marathon

Lee, who has reached the age of sixty in the marathon world, remained steadfast in his beliefs by doing his best, even when people were sarcastic over his marathon career. He proudly made his third best record following his best record of 2:07.20 hours at the 2000 Tokyo Marathon and showed the world his ongoing excellence.

His mother, wife, and two sons welcomed Lee as he crossed the finish line.

Lee was thrilled and kissed his first 4-year-old son Woo-suk on the cheek. He also shared the joy of victory with his 3-year-old son Seung-jin, his wife Kim Mi-soon (37), and his mother Gong Ok-hee (70).

Lee grinned and said, “My children like it when I run. When I work out at home, they try to mimic me. They are so adorable.”

Lee had run this course 35 times. He dropped by the wayside only twice during his whole running career. Until now he has run for 1,476,825 km total.

Lee’s records are hard to find among in the world marathon history books, however.

Lee said, “I have still a long way to go. As long as the Korean public encourages me, I will keep running until the last moment.”

yjongk@donga.com