2014 Seoul Race promotes love, youth

The 2014 Seoul Race, co-sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Dong-A Ilbo, will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday. It is the only urban marathon festival held in the heart of Seoul in early fall.

There are two courses. The 10-kilometer half-marathon course starts from the Seoul Plaza and finishes at the Han River Park on Ttukseom Island, while runners on the 21-kilometer full course will return to the Seoul Plaza. Called a "clean race within the city," the Seoul Race has added two unique features: love and youth.

For "love," Team World Vision from the World Vision, an international relief and development organization, will participate in the race for the eight consecutive years. Actor Lee Kwang-ki, a goodwill ambassador for the World Vision, and some 200 sponsors will run on the half course together to promote the "Ethiopia Hope Project." Comedian Sohn Heon-soo, Lee`s close friend, will also join the race.

The "Ethiopia Hope Project" calls for helping promising marathoners from underprivileged families in the African country`s Arsi region. As Ethiopia is a marathon powerhouse, the project helps promising runners focus on training without financial concerns. Since 2007, donations by participants in the Seoul International Marathon and the Seoul Race have instilled dreams into many aspiring marathoners. The World Vision will conduct donation campaigns both online and offline. Online donations are accepted via the Team World Vision page on Facebook, while offline fundraising is held on site.

Lee Soon-woo, CEO of Woori Bank, will serve as a helper for visually impaired runners. The commercial bank has helped visually impaired runners since 2011, and Lee has been serving as a helper since 2012. In addition, 28 other executives and employees from the bank will run with one-meter road guide ropes tied on their forearms together with members of visually impaired people`s marathon club. Some 500 other Woori Bank executives and employees will also join the race to promote love and health.

The number of youth runners has exceeded half of total participants in the race for the second consecutive year. Some 5,700 people of a total of 10,000 participants are in their 20s or 30s, while about 7,000 participants will run on the half course. It has been a recent trend that most marathoners prefer half courses except in some major competitions. The number of woman participants has also been rising in recent years.