- Chuncheon Marathon
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Chuncheon Marathon Date Late October Location Chuncheon, South Korea Event type Road Distance Marathon Established 1946 Official site Chuncheon Marathon The Chuncheon International Marathon (Korean: 춘천마라톤) is an annual marathon race which is held in late October in the city of Chuncheon, South Korea. First held in 1946, it is the second oldest marathon in the country after the Seoul International Marathon. Sponsored by The Chosun Ilbo, a major daily newspaper in South Korea, the race is one of two in the country which holds IAAF Silver Label status, along with Gyeongju International Marathon.[1]
Contents
History
Sohn Kee-chung winning the 1936 Olympic marathon – one of the inspirations for the race.
The 1936 Summer Olympics saw two Koreans win Olympic medals: Sohn Kee-chung took the gold while Nam Sung-yong was the bronze medallist. Both runners had competed in the colours of Japan, as the competition took place when Korea was part of the Japanese empire. When Japan was defeated in World War II, Korea was liberated and the first "Chosun Ilbo Shortened Marathon" was held the following year, building upon the newly free country's running tradition. Suh Yun-bok, a sports coach at Anyang Technical College, won the first race and later took victory at the Boston Marathon. The race was extended to the marathon distance for the next year and the event was held on the eleventh anniversary of Sohn's Olympic win.[2]
The race was not held from 1950 to 1953 due to the Korean War, but the annual competition has been uninterrupted since then. Marathon running became less popular in Korea in the 1960–70s and it was not until the 1980s that there was a resurgence of interest in the event, which saw women competing in the programme for the first time. Improving course times eventually resulted in Kim Wan-Ki's South Korean record run of 2:11:02 to win in 1991. The national race turned into an international one in 1995 and top runners from Kenya and Japan became frequent participants.[2]
Course and records
The runners cross rivers over the city's bridges.The course overall is a relatively flat one, with small uphill and downhill sections coming around the 5-kilometre and 30-kilometre marks. The looped course starts near the city centre on the east bank and heads south, following the waterfront. It turns northwards at the 8 km mark as it reaches the city suburbs and traces along the west side of the river for a 20 km stretch. The course then crosses the river and heads back towards the finishing point in down-town Chuncheon.[3]
Kim Wan-Ki's 1991 national and course record lasted only three years as Lee Bong-Ju dipped under the two hours, ten minutes mark with a run of 2:09:59. Moses Tanui became the first Kenyan winner in 1997 and knocked almost a minute off the record.[4] This mark stood for thirteen years, at which point another Kenyan (Benjamin Kiptoo Kolum) took over a minute more off that time for the current men's course best of 2:07:54.[1] That mark was beaten the following year by Stanley Biwott, who went 51 seconds faster.[5] The women's record for the course is Kwon Eun-Ju's long-standing time of 2:26:12, which is also a South Korean record.[4]
Past winners
National era
Not much is known of the early winners of the race. Suh Yun-bok won the first race in a time of 1:29:24 on a shortened course estimated to have been around 25 km in length.[4] A university student, Hong Jong-Oh, won the second race, beating a field of 50 runners to complete Chuncheon's first true marathon in a time of 2:57:20.[2] The next documented winner came from after the Korean War, as Lee Chang-Hoon won a shorter 20 km race in 1957. The next known winners after this come from the race's period of growth in the 1980s: Kim Won-Tak won in 1985 in around two hours seventeen minutes, while Kim Jae-Ryong took the 1987 race in a time around three minutes faster than that.[4]
Key: Course record Short course
Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) 1st 1946 
Suh Yun-bok (KOR)1:29:24 2nd 1947 Hong Jong-oh (KOR)2:57:20 Race winners not known (1948–49) Not held due to Korean War (1950–53) Race winners not known(1953–1956) 8th 1957 Lee Chang-Hoon (KOR)? Race winners not known (1958–1984) 36th 1985 Kim Won-Tak (KOR)2:17 37th 1986 Unknown 2:15 38th 1987 Kim Jae-Ryong (KOR)2:14 39th 1988 Unknown 2:13 Race winners not known (1989–90) 42nd 1991 Kim Wan-Ki (KOR)2:11:02 NR 43rd 1992 Chang Ki-shik (KOR)2:11:24 44th 1993 Yoo Young-hoon (KOR)2:13:03 45th 1994 Lee Bong-Ju (KOR)2:09:59 International era
Moses Tanui (right) was the first Kenyan to win the race.Key: Course record Asian Championships race
Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s) 46th 1995 
Rolando Vera (ECU)2:11:30 Kang Soon-Duk (KOR)2:35:37 47th 1996 
Norihiro Otoshi (JPN)2:14:02 Yukari Komatsu (JPN)2:37:54 48th 1997 
Moses Tanui (KEN)2:09:01 Kwon Eun-Ju (KOR)2:26:12 49th 1998 Oh Sung-Keun (KOR)2:18:21 Oh Jung-Hee (KOR)2:38:03 50th 1999 Je In-Mo (KOR)2:14:52 Yun Sun-Suk (KOR)2:35:31 51st 2000 Kim Je-Kyong (KOR)2:13:57 Yun Sun-Suk (KOR)2:37:02 52nd 2001 Ji Young-Jun (KOR)2:15:32 Kwon Eun-Ju (KOR)2:31:33 53rd 2002 Je In-Mo (KOR)2:16:49 Yun Sun-Suk (KOR)2:34:05 54th 2003 Elijah Chemwolo Mutai (KEN)2:13:54 Yun Sun-Suk (KOR)2:34:27 55th 2004 Elijah Chemwolo Mutai (KEN)2:14:31 Oh Jung-Hee (KOR)2:35:59 56th 2005 Elijah Chemwolo Mutai (KEN)2:09:27 Yun Sun-Suk (KOR)2:37:25 57th 2006 Elijah Chemwolo Mutai (KEN)2:13:46 Yun Sun-Suk (KOR)2:36:04 58th 2007 Victor Mangusho (KEN)2:14:01 Choi Kyung-Hee (KOR)2:35:25 59th 2008 Michael Njuroge (KEN)2:19:01 Choi Kyung-Hee (KOR)2:44:35 60th 2009 
Mulugeta Wami (ETH)2:09:50 Kim Seon-Jeong (KOR)2:49:35 61st 2010 Benjamin Kolum Kiptoo (KEN)2:07:54 Kim Seon-Jeong (KOR)2:43:39 62nd 2011 Stanley Biwott (KEN)2:07:03 Oh Jung-Hee (KOR)2:41:23 References
- ^ a b Jalava, Mirko (2010-10-24). Kiptoo smashes Chuncheon record with 2:07:54 victory. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-10-26.
- ^ a b c A Brief History of the Chosun Ilbo Marathon. Chuncheon Marathon. Retrieved on 2010-10-26.
- ^ Course. Chuncheon Marathon. Retrieved on 2010-10-26.
- ^ a b c d Chosunilbo Chunchon Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2009-12-27). Retrieved on 2010-10-26.
- ^ Yelena Kurdyumova and Sergey Porada (2011-10-23). 2:07:03 course record in Chuncheon for Biwott. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-10-23.
- List of winners
- Chosunilbo Chunchon Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2009-12-27). Retrieved on 2010-10-26.
External links
IAAF Silver Label Road Races Osaka International Ladies Marathon • Beppu-Ōita Marathon • Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon • RAK Half Marathon • Nagoya International Women's Marathon • Rotterdam Marathon • Madrid Marathon • Yangzhou Half Marathon • Ottawa 10K Road Race • Ottawa Marathon • Freihofer's Run for Women • Metro Men's Race 10km • Amsterdam Marathon • Gyeongju International Marathon • Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon • Toronto Waterfront Marathon • Chuncheon Men's Marathon • Venice Marathon • Marseille-Cassis Classique Internationale • JoongAng Seoul Marathon • Turin Marathon • Yokohama Women's Marathon • Singapore Marathon • San Silvestre Vallecana
Categories:- Chuncheon
- Recurring sporting events established in 1946
- Marathons in South Korea
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