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From Ages Four to 89, A Marathon to Enjoy

Posted October. 05, 2004 21:53,   

한국어

“Let’s Run in the Baekje Dynasty, Let’s Run Along the Geum River (Geumgang in Korean)”-

The 2004 Baekje Road Marathon sponsored by Dong-A Ilbo (co-sponsored by Gongju City in Chungcheong province) will be held at 9:00 a.m. on October 10. Four courses have been prepared for this event: 5-km, 10-km, half course, and full course circuits, and 6,897 people will be participating not only from Chungchung-do, but also from all across the country.

Marathon Festival of the Seoul Metropolitan Area and Chungcheong Province -

Among the 6,897 participants, 81.7 percent come from Daejeon in Chungcheong province (3,800 people) and the Seoul metropolitan area (1,835 people). Celebrating its third anniversary, the Baekje Road Marathon is firmly rooted as a festival of the Seoul metropolitan area and Chuncheong province. The number of challengers for the full course is 2,229. The eldest runner is 89-year-old Lee Jeung-hyun. The youngest is four-year-old Lee Sang-wook, who will be participating in the 5-km course. The number of groups with more than 10 runners is 112 teams. The team with the most participants is the “Gong-myung-yi Marathon Club,” an amateur club of the National Election Commission, with 471 runners.

The official sponsor of the Dong-A Marathon, New Balance, will choose one of the runners and provide a round-trip flight ticket and lodging for the Queenstown Marathon which will be held on April 10, 2005 in New Zealand. The photo company “Phtoro,” which specializes in marathon pictures, will provide group photograph services for amateur groups with more than 30 participants. People will be able to enjoy a meaningful time away from the race as well, as the 50th Baekje Culture Festival will be held in the dynasty’s old capital, Buyeo, from October 8 to 11.

The Most Level Course in the Country-

Gongju is the place where remnants of the 700-year history of Baekje are scattered. It is important to feel the breath of Baekje while running. In particular, the clean, pollution-free cycle course along the Geum River, which flows across Gongju, provides the best atmosphere for running. According to the vice chairman of the Facility Management Committee of the Korea Athletic Federation, Yu Moon-jong, who redesigned the marathon course last September, the course “has an uphill portion only at the 32-km spot and the rest is level, so it will be perfect for the masters to enjoy running.”

Let’s Not Exceed Our Capacity-

The recent deaths during marathon races occurred because the runners did not fully understand their bodies. A professor of the Korea National Sports University, Kim Bok-ju, says, “Accidents come from the wrong perception that only a pair of running shoes and sportswear is needed for a marathon.”

The marathon is a sport in which one challenges against limits. Thus, one should check his current physical status through a check-up. Before running, runners should not only check their muscles, but also their cardiovascular system at a special hospital to see how much tension their bodies can endure. A check-up for diseases is also important.

Even a veteran marathoner can experience major injuries or even death if he neglects warming up and performing recovery exercises. Fatigue that builds up from over-practicing can result in heart attacks, and excessive desire to shorten one’s record can also be problematic. These are the most common cases why accidents are frequent among masters who can finish the full course in four hours.

Professor Kim stressed, “People just run obstinately even though they have to control the level, frequency, and amount of their exercises. A novice should look for an expert, and a veteran should give up the race or exercising without hesitation if they do not feel well. A paradigm shift that the marathon is not a fight against limits, but a sport to enjoy, is crucial as well.”



Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com