The JoongAng Seoul Marathon is an annual

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

that takes place in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

, 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 known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

.Travel » Other Marathons » JoongAng Seoul Marathon

Singapore Marathon The Singapore Marathon 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 first competitive marathon in Singapore was held o ...

. Retrieved on 2009-11-07. 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. Sponsored by

JoongAng Ilbo ''The JoongAng'', formally 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 pub ...

, 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 one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the ...

is held in March and is sponsored by rival newspaper

The Dong-a Ilbo The ''Dong-A Ilbo'' (, literally ''East Asia Daily'') is a newspaper of record in Korea since 1920 with a daily circulation of more than 1.2 million and opinion leaders as its main readers. ''The Dong-A Ilbo'' is the parent company of Dong-A ...

. 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 shortcut ...

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 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. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential ci ...

before looping back to finish in the

Jamsil Olympic Stadium The Seoul Olympic Stadium (), also known as 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 1 ...

. 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

External links

Official website
{{IAAF Silver Label __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 events in South Korea