Seoul welcomes spring with marathon

The Seoul/Dong-A Marathon, the only ‘Platinum Label’ competition held in Korea, was successfully held on Sunday. One hundred forty-one elite athletes and 38,000 Masters runners from 10 countries participated. The World Association of Athletics Federations (WA) certifies marathon events by classifying them into four levels (platinum, gold, elite, and WA label), and the Seoul Marathon is Korea's only platinum label (highest level) event.

Ethiopian athletes won both the men's and women's races in the 2024 Seoul Marathon/94th Dong-A Marathon international category. In the men's division, Jemal Yimer Mekonne topped the list at two hours, six minutes, and eight seconds, while Pkriter Warata Admasu took first place with a time of two hours, 21 minutes, and 32 seconds.

Kim Hong-rok, who took the top spot in the men's division in the domestic division with a time of two hours, 14 minutes, and 20 seconds, became the first college student winner in 11 years since Seong Ji-hoon of Korea National Sport University in 2013.


Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com