The JoongAng Seoul Marathon is an annual

footrace Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

that takes place in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, usually in early November. First held in 1999, the race was established as a commemoration of Olympic marathon race which was held as part of the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were repres ...

.Travel » Other Marathons » JoongAng Seoul Marathon

Singapore Marathon The Singapore Marathon, or Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) is an annual international marathon race which is held on the first Sunday of December in the city of Singapore. It is a World Athletics Gold Label Road Race. History The ...

. Retrieved on 2009-11-07. It features a men's

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

elite race, and also has non-professional races of 10 km as well as the marathon distance. Elite international competitors are usually not invited to the women's race, thus that section tends to be a competition between Korean women only. Sponsored by

JoongAng Ilbo ''The JoongAng'', formerly known as ''JoongAng Ilbo'' (), is a South Korean daily newspaper published in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the three biggest newspapers in South Korea, and a newspaper of record for South Korea. The paper also pu ...

, the JoongAng Seoul Marathon one of two annual international marathons in the city: the

Seoul International Marathon The Seoul International Marathon (), also known as The Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon, is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is hosted by the newspaper ''The Dong-A Ilbo''. It is one of two annual ra ...

is held in March and is sponsored by rival newspaper The Dong-a Ilbo. It has received IAAF Bronze Label Road Race status and hosted the

Asian Marathon Championship The Asian Marathon Championships is a biennial international competition in marathon road running for Asian athletes. Organised by the Asian Athletics Association, its creation in 1988 followed decision to drop the 42.195-kilometre (26-mile and 385 ...

in 2004. It began as a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

with around 1300 participants in the first run. The course was selected as a national championship race from 2001 onwards and it became a full marathon course the following year. A 5 km short course event was held at the inaugural edition and it featured for three years until its discontinuation in 2002. In 2007 it was awarded Silver Label Race Road status by the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

and by 2008 around 25,000 runners were competing at each annual event.History
JoongAng Seoul Marathon. Retrieved on 2009-11-07. Tracing a loop across Seoul, the course is generally flat, which allows for fast finishing times. It takes place in the south-east part of the city, heading into the suburbs towards

Seongnam Seongnam (; ) is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. It consists of three administrative districts: Bundang District, J ...

before looping back to finish in the

Jamsil Olympic Stadium The Seoul Olympic Stadium (), a.k.a. Jamsil Olympic Stadium (formerly romanised as ''Chamshil''), is a multi-purpose stadium in Seoul, South Korea. It is the main stadium built for the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 10th Asian Games in 1986. It i ...

. The fast course has resulted in a number of sub-2:09 runs and even one sub-2:06 run in the men's race over the course's history.

James Kwambai James Kipsang Kwambai (born February 28, 1983) is a runner from Kenya, who specialises in marathons. He is a former Kenyan record holder in the event, with his personal best of 2:04:27 hours in 2009. At the time this made him the second fastest r ...

is the men's course record holder with 2:05:50 hours and is the most successful athlete at the race, having won three times consecutively from 2011 to 2013.Kwambai secures hat-trick in Seoul
IAAF (2013-11-03). Retrieved on 2013-11-03. The women's course record is 2:29:32 hours, set by national runner Lee Eun-Jung.

Past winners

Half marathon

Marathon

Key:

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
__NOTOC__ JTBC Marathons in South Korea Athletics in South Korea Sport in Seoul Recurring sporting events established in 1999 1999 establishments in South Korea Autumn in South Korea