Run with Perseverance the Race Marked out for Us

Race day! Earlier this year, I completed my first 5k walk/run with several church friends living in Seoul. We had such a good time that we agreed to run another together later in the year. After a few months of hemming and hawing, we finally agreed to run a race in November. One of our friends interested in running would be leaving Korea soon after and it would be getting cold, so the timing was good. Some people ran a few races in between. Here's a picture from that first 5k.



The website for the race was all in Korean, so the gal who found the race asked a Korean friend of ours from church to assist with the registration. That took some figuring out. While we were figuring out the right information to send, I mentioned to some friends in Siheung that I was going to start training for a 5k race soon. They eagerly asked for information and I transmitted information between groups. It was an affordable race, only 10,000 won (just under $10 USD) for the 5k walk/run race registration, and that included a "completion pack," a long-sleeve t-shirt, hot rice cake soup and sundae (pig intestine/blood sausage) to eat after the race, and a glossy printed race program. The marathon was called the CBS Sharing Love Marathon, Nov. 26, 2011.




Training was definitely on the agenda, but this time of year various injuries, illnesses, schedule conflicts, and other problems didn’t allow any of us to train very consistently. Still, we all felt reasonably confident in our ability to complete the race, and several of our group were eager to compete.

After six weeks of training (interrupted early on by a knee injury that I had to rest from for a week), we found ourselves facing the day before the race. Siheung is on the south-west side of Seoul, outside the city, but the race was all the way east, out to Sangil-dong at the end of Subway line 5 and then a 30-minute or so shuttle bus ride to the outdoor racetrack and sports complex. Some of us stayed with my friend Karen who lived in a studio apartment closer to the race area’s end of the subway, and others stayed at a nearby motel.

The temperature had dropped to around freezing that weekend, so we had difficulty figuring out how many layers to wear. We knew we’d warm up during the run, but there was no telling what the wind would be like or how quickly that cold air would seep through the layers. It was a cold Friday night for me--when I got to the apartment, it seemed really warm, so I opted for the spot on the floor next to the window. There were only so many blankets to go around for all four of us, so… I didn’t sleep much. I think we were all a little edgy about the race though.




We had a light breakfast at the apartment, and got ready as quickly as possible to catch the last shuttle bus from the end of the subway to the sports complex. On the way we had a few minor delays—missing subway cards, difficulty carrying all our gear, people wandering from the rendezvous point, but we all arrived in one piece. The pre-race activities had been going on for a while; when we arrived, there were belly dancers on stage. I'm not quite sure why.



After pinning on our race numbers, distributing our t-shirts, figuring out starting times, and meeting up with a few other people we knew, we stowed the rest of our belongings with the very over-worked bag-check people and did our best to get warmed up. We had arrived around 9:00a.m. or shortly after. The 5k entrants would begin at 9:45. It turned out to be a reasonably flat track encircling a lake area. The contestants in the 10k, half and full marathons ran an extended track, but we just had to complete one lap around the lake. Warm-ups included some brief jogs, some stretching, and some calisthenics led by a Korean MC. Most of us had music we planned to listen to as we ran. There were some bikers warming up too, though I think they were safety people, not competitors.




Finally it was time to assemble at the starting line. We all (Koreans included) counted down in English, five, four, three, two, one, BANG! (I think someone actually said the word “BANG” through a loudspeaker to get us started) and off we went! I’m not entirely sure how many people actually showed up in the just-above-freezing temperature to run that 5k. Maybe about 100 people give or take a few, and the rest were in other distances. Still, not a bad little group.




I managed to run without slowing for the first short and long sides of the track, or about 15 minutes. After rounding the bend onto the far short end though, I lost some of my drive and had to slow to a ragged walk. I did manage to run for two or three more segments during the final side of the track, but it was certainly difficult. Towards the end, I found myself in a matched pace with my friend Jackie, and we stayed together for most of that final stretch, taking turns pulling ahead just a bit to keep the other one motivated, and agreeing to slow to a walk together for one or two brief breaks. It would have been so difficult to finish while maintaining a running pace if she hadn’t been alongside me, stride for stride!




I forgot to stop my timer when we finally crossed the finish line, and the finish clock had something like 3 minutes or 3:15 added on to the total time, so I didn’t get an exact finish time, but I think we were close to 34 minutes even. That’s more than 6 minutes faster than the one I completed this summer! It was encouraging to see that training had paid off.

When we arrived, we learned that the top 5 women contestants were all from our group! Emily, Veronica, Nikki, Erika, and Aimee placed in the top 5 of women in the 5k, so we got to see quite an impressive award ceremony after the race. They were awarded a glass commemorative trophy, a plush towel, and a velvet-cased winner’s certificate with their names and completion times.





Other participants could pick up runners' packs that contained a choco pie, a juice box, and a participation medal. This booth was a little hard to find though, so I think a few people missed it… Afterwards, race staff members were also waiting to serve up hot rice cake, egg and seaweed soup, and for those of us willing to try a more unusual-sounding delicacy, we could eat as much sundae as we wanted. I did try a piece of the blood sausage finally—I’ve declined it in the past. Not too bad tasting, but I still can’t quite get past the idea of it yet.




We did it! We ran the freezing, tiring race! And there was such a good feeling of camaraderie and accomplishment afterwards. Endorphins are a wonderful thing. One person said how good it felt to have accomplished something that monumental on a Saturday morning and it was only 11:00! It sure beat lying around like a couch potato. It was the first 5k for several of our number, and I suspect that it won’t be the last race for anyone. These things are addicting. Congrats to everyone who ran the race!