19 March 2023
The Seoul Marathon
Social distancing restrictions during Covid brought me to running in 2021. After going under 60 minutes for 10K, I naively set myself a sub 4-hour target for the road marathon distance. 6400km of training distance and 3 race attempts later, I managed to do just that in Seoul. 3 hours 51 minutes.
Racing experience overall is fantastic, though slightly cold for someone whose life is spent mostly around the equator. 4oC around starting time at 8am and rose to 12oC by noon time with 30% humidity and sunshine throughout. I had planned to maintain pace around 5:30min/km throughout (3h53-3h55 goal time). The first 5K went by quickly with average pace 5:25. Slight faster than planned but I felt great. My avg HR was below 150 most of the time so I thought I’d put in some lead time in the reserve bank as long as my HR did not overshoot 150bpm too much. That went well for the first 25K. My 5k split avg HR/pace was 144/5:25, 151/5:22, 149/5:22, 150/5:25, 154/5:20). By then, I was ahead of my plan by roughly 4 minutes.
Traffic in Seoul thickened. I passed by mostly concrete jungle of tall commercial buildings peppered with occasional palaces from many eras past. Lots of people cheered from the sidewalks, many from different local run clubs. Lot of Korean (presumably) cheer phrases and ‘Fighting!’. The local police was in full operations guiding vehicle and human traffic made chaotic by the road blocks from the race. The race director reported more than 30K runners in this race and I noticed an overwhelming domestic core. That may explain the surprising lack of attention to the pre- and post- race experience of oversea participants.
Around 2.5 hours into the race, my earphones ran out of battery. I have been listening to praise and worship music the entire time and made occasional prayers. It’s a cool tip I learn to focus my attention on something else whenever I start feeling a little tired. It also induced a sense of gratitude: I am fit, fresh, and healthy to race which many people and factors needed to come together for it to happen. In the last third of the race, I stored my earphones and started to fully embrace the atmosphere. The supporters also knew after 30km, things started getting significantly more challenging. So they lined the streets with drums, banners, and occasionally cups of Coke. Some runners started walking, some stopped to stretch their screaming Achilles’ tendons, calves, and hamstrings. Some gestured to another fellow club runners to carry on. Alone, one might succumb to the collapsing will but in the company of co-sufferers, one found the strength to persist.
I slowed down too. Thankfully, though tired, my legs did not cramp up. I continued to stick to my heart rate strategy and resolve not let it overshoot 160 in the last 10K. My 5K avg HR & pace for 30/35/40/FM were 152/5:29, 153/5:38, 155/5:38, 159/5:36. The toughest part of the race expectedly was between 30km and 40km marks. With eyes and ears wide open, I threw in all the tactics in this section. For a while I spotted another runner with a blue balloon and drafted behind him. As he faded in the mid-30, I followed another female runner. I popped a CrampFix sachet at 35km just to jolt my sensory nerves with the highly acidic and spicy notes from the concoction of ginger and expresso. I switched to small steps, high cadence jog along the last but long gentle climb up the bridge throughout 36km-38km.
As I reached the top of the bridge to the blasting sound from a DJ atop of a Adidas bus, I looked across and saw the 5-ring Olympic sign on top of Jamsil Seoul olympic stadium. I couldn’t help realising that the race was coming to an end. All the long runs, tempo & interval workouts, the easy miles, the early mornings, the late afternoons, the treadmill runs when outdoor was not possible, the planning, the dreaming, the anticipation, the disappointment, the joy. All of that was about to end. Even if I slowed to a walk now, I would have crossed the line under 4 hours, a goal unimaginable, a time both too fast and too long hardly comprehensible to my mind, scarcely believable in my heart, surely undoable to my body 3 years ago. Of course, that walking thought lasted for just a second. A quick mental calculation made me aware that if the race distance did not exceed 42.2km too much, I might even stand a chance to go under 3h50. So I tore my last gel, swallowed it, and pushed.
It didn’t happen, however. The 4-minute reserve at 25km came down to about 3 minutes and I finally crossed the line in 3h51 vs 3h54 planned. It was a special and proud moment. A significant improvement from 4h17 in Dec’22 Singapore Marathon and 4h25 Apr’22 Ho Chi Minh Marathon. I took out my phone, recorded a message to my family and kids, as I followed the throngs of proud finishers exiting the stadium. It said: “Today, not only papa didn’t quit, but papa exceeded my goal and recorded a new personal best. Papa won!”
What’s Next
I’m registered for another 2 races in 2023. UTA50 in Blue Mountains, Sydney, Australia in May and Valencia Marathon, Spain in Dec. UTA50 is 50km race along the Blue Mountain trail and I do not have any time goal, just to enjoy the experience. For Valencia, the aim to break 3h51. To prepare for that, I will train and try to lower my current 10K and Half marathon time as well. For now, time to head back to the local trail and get some elevation to get ready for UTA50. See you soon, Sydney!
Other Race Details
- Sleep: went to bed early but once again couldn’t fall asleep until probablyy 2am. Woke at 5:45. Ate 1 instant noodle, 2 slices of toast with peanut butter. Thankfully, 2 prior nights I had good full 8 hours of sleep.
- Gears (bottom to top): Saucony Endorphin Pro 2, T8 socks, 2XU compression long tights, T8 sherpa running shorts, Rabbit racing vest, innov-8 stormshell jacket, Decathlon running arm sleeves, neck warmer cloth, contact lenses, sunglasses and running hat.
- Nutrition: 1 GU expresso gel 5 minutes before start. 7 energy gels from Stealth at 6/12/18/24/30/34/38km. 1 CrampFix shot at 35km. Splashes of water at aid stations and generous people of Seoul along the streets.
- Start Group: G (last group). As my name in previous race did not match the shortened Anglicised name I used to register for Seoul, I was put in the last start group, which started 30 minutes after the elite runners raced off. A point to note in future races.
- Overseas runner experience: official website offered bare-bone information. Race pack collection time the day before race was long. Only one Adidas event T-shirt (where is the jacket as shown on website?). No finisher t-shirt. No option for on-course photography.
Keane Nguyen 