- Seoul International Marathon
-
Not to be confused with JoongAng Seoul Marathon.
Seoul International Marathon
The main gate to Gyeongbokgung Palace on Gwanghwamun Plaza, where the race beginsDate Mid-March Location Seoul, South Korea Event type Road Distance Marathon Established 1993 Official site Gyeongju Marathon The Seoul International Marathon, also known as the Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon, is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the city, alongside the JoongAng Seoul Marathon which is held in November.[1] It holds IAAF Gold Label Road Race status.[2] First held in 1931, it is the third longest-running road running competition in Asia after the Hakone Ekiden and Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden in Japan.[3]
The race has been integral to the elite level of the sport in Korea, as ten of the 28 South Korean national records in the marathon have been set at the competition.[4] In addition to the marathon, the event also features half marathon, 10 km and 5 km races for public fun runners. The day's races attract around 20,000 people on a yearly basis.
Contents
History
The genesis of the competition is traced back to the Youngdungpo Marathon, which was first held in 1931. It was not a true marathon and the looped course in the city measured roughly 50 ris (around 14.5 miles or 23.3 km). The race was contested between fourteen of the country's top male runners and Seoul's Kim Eun-Bae won the first edition. Kim and the 1933 winner Sohn Kee-chung both went on to compete at the Olympic marathon, although they did so under the flag of Japan as Korea was part of the Japanese empire at that time.[5]
This fact contributed to the suspension of the 1937 race: the event's sponsor, Korean broadsheet the Dong-A Ilbo, censored the Japanese flag in its reports of Sohn's marathon victory at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the ruling Japanese military junta responded by suspending both the newspaper and the race.[6] The race returned as an annual fixture from 1938 to 1940 but was again discontinued, initially due to World War II and later because of the Korean War. The race returned on April 1954 and Im Jong-Woo became the first person to win twice, taking back-to-back victories in 1954 and 1955.[7]
The competition's first official full-length marathon was contested in 1964 and the change brought about improvements in the national standards as Lee Myeong-Jeong set a South Korea record to win in 1965 and Kim Bong-Nae became the first Korean to run under two hours twenty minutes a year later.[8] At the 1970 edition, Canadian Ron Wallingford and two Japanese runners provided the race with its first international competitors. The quality of the field saw domestic runner Kim Cha-Wan react with a national record run of 2:17:34.4 to win the race. Kim improved his mark again in 1973 and went on to become the Dong-A Marathon's most prolific winner, scoring four victories in the 1970s.[6][9] Japanese marathoner Toyoichi Masuda became the first foreign winner in 1977 and he was soon joined by his countryman Makoto Matsuzaki, who won two years afterwards. A women's 10 km race was added to the programme in 1979 and Moon Ki-sook became the first women's Dong-A champion.[10]
Im Eun-Joo won a women's 30 km race in 1981 and female runners were allowed to take on the full marathon distance the following year.[6] She went on to claim three straight marathon titles from 1983 to 1985.[11] The 1982 race hosted a dual domestic and international race, with results kept separate for the divisions.[6] In anticipation of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the city also hosted separate international races from 1983 up to 1987 (which was the IAAF World Marathon Cup race).[12] The Dong-A competition in the 1980s saw the men's record reach 2:12 territory through Jang-hee Lee in 1987.[11]
With the advent of another decade, Won-Tak Kim brought the men's record down to 2:11:38 in 1990. Hwang Young-cho, Seoul's winner in 1991, went on to take the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Wan-Ki Kim reduced the national record further to 2:09:25 in 1993. The marathon was moved to Chuncheon for the 1992 event and had a seven-year stint in Gyeongju from 1993 to 1999. It returned to Seoul in 2000,[6] but its impact in the latter city led to the creation of the Gyeongju International Marathon.[13]
The event took on a more international nature from 1994 onwards, renaming itself the Dong-A International Marathon; following the invitation of runners from twelve countries, Manuel Matias of Portugal became the first winner from outside of Korea and Japan.[14] The marathon reached a landmark of over 10,000 starters in 1999 as 11,303 runners signed up for the full distance in the elite and popular races.[15]
China's Wei Yanan brought the women's record down to 2:25:06 in 2002, knocking over five minutes off the previous course best. Gert Thys had two consecutive victories in 2003 and 2004 (recording a record time of 2:07:06 in the latter), but a third win in 2006 was erased after he failed a drugs test for the banned steroid norandrosterone.[6] That year Zhou Chunxiu of PR China became the seventh woman to ever finish under two hours and twenty minutes as she set the women's record at 2:19:51 hours.[16] Kenyan runner Sylvester Teimet set the current men's record in 2010 with his win in 2:06:49 hours.[6]
Course
The competition begins at Gwanghwamun Plaza in the city centre and finishes within the Olympic Stadium.[17] The course has a point-to-point format and traces a south-easterly path through the city centre. After departing from the main plaza, the route flows into Sejongno thoroughfare and passes the statue of Yi Sun-sin. The runners then pass the Namdaemun gateway and head through Cheonggyecheon park. The route traces a pass through Dongdaemun-gu district before crossing the Han River to head towards the stadium finishing point.[18]
Past winners
Pre-marathon
Key: 14.5-mile race 15-mile race race
Note: All other years approx 25 km (16 mi)Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) 1st 1931 Kim Eun-Bae (KOR) 1:22:05 2nd 1932 Byun Yong-Han (KOR) 1:21:51 3rd 1933 Sohn Kee-chung (KOR) 1:24:03 4th 1934 Yoo Jang-Choon (KOR) 1:20:34 5th 1935 Lee Tae-Woo (KOR) 1:22:43 6th 1936 Oh Dong-Woo (KOR) 1:20:11 — 1937 Banned 7th 1938 Yoo Koan-Huang (KOR) 1:29:09 8th 1939 Ji Young-Ryung (KOR) 1:28:12 9th 1940 Hyun Jung-Hyo (KOR) 1:29:02 Not held from 1941–1953 due to World War II and Korean War 10th 1954 Im Jong-Woo (KOR) 1:23:43 11th 1955 Im Jong-Woo (KOR) 1:23:16 12th 1956 Han Seung-Chul (KOR) 1:21:42 13th 1957 Lee Chang-Hoon (KOR) 1:20:28 14th 1958 Oh Chun-Taek (KOR) 1:21:15 15th 1959 Lee Sang-Chul (KOR) 1:20:12 16th 1960 Cha Dae-Man (KOR) 1:20:17 17th 1961 Kang Yang-Tae (KOR) 1:19:55 18th 1962 Han Jae-Duk (KOR) 1:18:54 19th 1963 Kim Bong-Nae (KOR) 1:21:53 Marathon
Key: Course record Asian championship race
Edition Year Men's winner Time (h:m:s) Women's winner Time (h:m:s) 20th 1964 Lee Chang-Hoon (KOR) 2:27:13.8 — — 21st 1965 Lee Myung-Jung (KOR) 2:21:21.6 — — 22nd 1966 Kim Bong-Nae (KOR) 2:19:07 — — 23rd 1967 Yu Myung-Jong (KOR) 2:19:44 — — 24th 1968 Kim Bong-Nae (KOR) 2:19:42.9 — — 25th 1969 Song Keum-Yong (KOR) 2:20:28 — — 26th 1970 Kim Cha-Wan (KOR) 2:17:34.4 — — 27th 1971 Cho Je-Hyung (KOR) 2:19:15.8 — — 28th 1972 Kim Cha-Wan (KOR) 2:19:34.4 — — 29th 1973 Kim Cha-Wan (KOR) 2:17:01 — — 30th 1974 Moon Heung-Ju (KOR) 2:16:15 — — 31st 1975 Moon Heung-Ju (KOR) 2:21:09.6 — — 32nd 1976 Park Won-Keun (KOR) 2:18:20 — — 33rd 1977 Toyoichi Masuda (JPN) 2:18:40 — — 34th 1978 Kim Cha-Wan (KOR) 2:17:01 — — 35th 1979 Makoto Matsuzaki (JPN) 2:17:18 Moon Ki-Sook (KOR) — (10 km) 36th 1980 Susumu Sato (JPN) 2:16:46 Unknown — 37th 1981 Lee Hong-Yul (KOR) 2:21:23.4 Im Eun-Joo (KOR) 2:02:08 (30 km) 38th 1982 Kim Jong-Yun (KOR) 2:16:58 An Chun-Ja (KOR) 3:01:50 [nb] —1982 Lawrie Whitty (AUS) 2:14:34 Allison Roe (NZL) 2:43:12 39th 1983 Chae Hong-Nak (KOR) 2:16:33 Im Eun-Joo (KOR) 2:48:13 40th 1984 Lee Hong-Yul (KOR) 2:14:59 Im Eun-Joo (KOR) 2:39:48 41st 1985 Yoo Jae-Sung (KOR) 2:15:48 Im Eun-Joo (KOR) 2:45:06 42nd 1986 Yoo Jae-Sung (KOR) 2:14:06 Kim Mi-Kyung (KOR) 2:40:41 43rd 1987 Lee Jong-Hee (KOR) 2:12:21 Ahn Young-Ok (KOR) 2:41:50 44th 1988 Kim Won-Tak (KOR) 2:12:41 Lee Mi-Ok (KOR) 2:33:14 45th 1989 Im Jung-Tae (KOR) 2:15:18 Lee Mi-Ok (KOR) 2:39:27 46th 1990 Kim Won-Tak (KOR) 2:11:38 Lee Mi-Ok (KOR) 2:37:15 47th 1991 Hwang Yeong-Cho (KOR) 2:12:35 Lee Mi-Ok (KOR) 2:41:43 48th 1992 Kim Jae-Ryong (KOR) 2:09:30 Lee Mi-Ok (KOR) 2:36:44 49th 1993 Kim Wan-Ki (KOR) 2:09:25 Chung Young-Im (KOR) 2:45:52 50th 1994 Manuel Matias (POR) 2:08:33 Lee Mi-Kyung (KOR) 2:35:44 51st 1995 Lee Bong-Ju (KOR) 2:10:58 Lee Mi-Kyung (KOR) 2:38:08 52nd 1996 Martín Fiz (ESP) 2:08:25 Oh Mi-Ja (KOR) 2:30:09 53rd 1997 Abel Antón (ESP) 2:12:37 Bang Seon-Hee (KOR) 2:43:40 54th 1998 Kim Yi-Yong (KOR) 2:12:24 Oh Mi-Ja (KOR) 2:37:16 55th 1999 Hyung Jae-Young (KOR) 2:11:34 Oh Jung-Hee (KOR) 2:35:11 56th 2000 Chung Nam-Kyun (KOR) 2:11:29 Park Ko-Eun (KOR) 2:33:06 57th 2001 Josiah Bembe (RSA) 2:11:49 Yun Sun-Suk (KOR) 2:32:09 58th 2002 Atsushi Fujita (JPN) 2:11:22 Wei Yanan (CHN) 2:25:06 59th 2003 Gert Thys (RSA) 2:08:42 Zhang Shujing (CHN) 2:23:18 60th 2004 Gert Thys (RSA) 2:07:06 Lee Eun-Jung (KOR) 2:26:17 61st 2005 William Kipsang (KEN) 2:08:53 Zhou Chunxiu (CHN) 2:23:24 62nd 2006 Jason Mbote (KEN) 2:11:40 Zhou Chunxiu (CHN) 2:19:51 63rd 2007 Lee Bong-Ju (KOR) 2:08:04 Wei Yanan (CHN) 2:23:12 64th 2008 Sammy Korir (KEN) 2:07:32 Zhang Shujing (CHN) 2:26:11 65th 2009 Moses Kimeli Arusei (KEN) 2:07:54 Robe Guta (ETH) 2:25:37 66th 2010 Sylvester Teimet (KEN) 2:06:49 Amane Gobena (ETH) 2:24:13 67th 2011 Abderrahim Goumri (MAR) 2:09:11 Robe Guta (ETH) 2:26:51 Notes
- nb An international race and a domestic race were held simultaneously in 1982, with results being kept separately for each category.[6][19]
References
- ^ Jalava, Mirko (2005-11-07). Kiplagat takes 2:08 course record victory in Seoul. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ IAAF Label Road Racing. IAAF (2011). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ Longest Running Road Races. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2011-03-08). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ Dong-A Seoul Int`l Marathon ready to join world`s elite. Dong-A Ilbo (2010-03-08). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ History (pg. 1). Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Seoul International Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2010-03-23). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ History (pg. 2). Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ History (pg. 4). Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ History (pg. 6). Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ History (pg. 7). Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ a b History (pg. 9). Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ Heyworth, Malcolm (2011-03-09). IAAF World Cup Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ Kenyan Marathoners Sweep Gyeongju Marathon. The Dong-a Ilbo (2007-10-22). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ History (pg. 10). Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ History (pg.11). Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ Turner, Chris & Jalava, Mirko (2006-03-14). Zhou Chunxiu becomes seventh woman to run a sub-2:20 Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ 2011 Seoul International Marathon Information. Dong-A Marathon. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ Course Map. Dong-A Marathon (2011). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- ^ AIMS 1982–2007: 25 Years of Running History. Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (2007). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
- List of winners
- Seoul International Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2010-03-23). Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
External links
IAAF Gold Label Road Races Xiamen International Marathon • Mumbai Marathon • Tokyo Marathon • World's Best 10K Race • Lake Biwa Marathon • Lisbon Half Marathon • Maratona di Roma • Seoul International Marathon • Prague Half Marathon • Paris International Marathon • London Marathon • Boston Marathon • Prague International Marathon • Great Manchester Run • World 10K Bangalore • Bogota International Half Marathon • Great North Run • Berlin Marathon • Portugal Half Marathon • Chicago Marathon • Beijing International Marathon • Delhi Half Marathon • Frankfurt Marathon • Great South Run • New York City Marathon • Fukuoka MarathonCategories:- Athletics in South Korea
- Marathons in South Korea
- Sport in Seoul
- Recurring sporting events established in 1931
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.