JTBC Seoul Marathon
The JoongAng Seoul Marathon is an annual footrace that takes place in Seoul, South Korea, 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.[1] It features a men's marathon 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.[2]
Sponsored by JoongAng Ilbo, the JoongAng Seoul Marathon one of two annual international marathons in the city: the Seoul International Marathon is held in March and is sponsored by rival newspaper The Dong-a Ilbo.[3]
It began as a half marathon with around 1300 participants in the first run.[4] 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 and by 2008 around 25,000 runners were competing at each annual event.[5]
Tracing a loop across Seoul, the course is generally flat, which allows for fast finishing times.[1] It takes place in the south-east part of the city, heading into the suburbs towards Seongnam before looping back to finish in the Jamsil Olympic Stadium.[6] The fast course has resulted in a number of sub-2:09 runs in the men's race over the course's history.[7][8]
Past winners
Half marathon
| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time | Women's winner | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1999 |  Seung-Do Baek (KOR)
|
1:04:41 | Eun-ju Kwon (KOR)
|
1:13:58 |
| 2nd | 2000 | Young-Jin You (KOR)
|
1:04:06 | Sun-Sook Yoon (KOR)
|
1:13:31 |
| 3rd | 2001 |  John Nada Saya (TAN)
|
1:01:58 | ? | ? |
Marathon
Key: Course record
| Edition | Year | Men's winner | Time | Women's winner | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4th | 2002 |  Mbarak Hussein (KEN)
|
2:09:46 | ? | ? |
| 5th | 2003 |  Pavel Loskutov (EST)
|
2:09:15 | Yoon-Hee Chung (KOR)
|
2:30:50 |
| 6th | 2004 | Pavel Loskutov (EST)
|
2:09:34 |  Zhang Shujing (CHN)
|
2:36:22 |
| 7th | 2005 | William Kiplagat (KEN)
|
2:08:27 | Keun-young Kwon (KOR)
|
2:49:09 |
| 8th | 2006 | Jason Mbote (KEN)
|
2:08:13 | Kim Hye-Kyong (KOR)
|
2:40:36 |
| 9th | 2007 | Joshua Chelanga (KEN)
|
2:08:14 | Lee Eun-Jung (KOR)
|
2:29:32 |
| 10th | 2008 |  Solomon Molla (ETH)
|
2:08:46 | Sun Young Lee (KOR)
|
2:29:58 |
| 11th | 2009 | Francis Kibiwott Larabal (KEN)
|
2:09:00 | Sun Young Lee (KOR)
|
2:34:22 |
References
- ^ a b Travel » Other Marathons » JoongAng Seoul Marathon. Singapore Marathon. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
- ^ Yelena Kurdyumova and Sergey Porada (2008-10-31). Mbote gunning for his own course record at JoongAng Seoul Marathon. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
- ^ Jalava, Mirko (2005-11-07). Kiplagat takes 2:08 course record victory in Seoul. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
- ^ Feature. JoongAng Seoul Marathon. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
- ^ History. JoongAng Seoul Marathon. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
- ^ Course. JoongAng Seoul Marathon. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
- ^ Jalava, Mirko (2006-11-05). Kiplagat’s course record is broken with 2:08:13 run in Seoul. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.
- ^ Yelena Kurdyumova and Sergey Porada (2008-11-02). Molla takes surprise victory in Seoul. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-11-07.