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Apr 23, 2024

Marathon Details - Chunchon Int'l Marathon

International Marathons > Korea (South) > Chuncheon City > Chunchon Int'l Marathon

Chunchon Int'l Marathon & 10K

Chuncheon City, Korea (South)

October 29, 2023

https://marathon.chosun.com

More Info:	News
Results:	Top 3 Finishers by Year

Contact

Name:	Mr. Kim Myung-Kyu
Address:	Organizing Committee of the Chosum Ibo Chunchon Marathon 61, 1-ka Taepyongno Joong-ku Seoul 100-756 KOREA
Phone Number:	82 2 724 6333
Fax Number:	82 2 724 6309
Email:	Email the organizers



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Reviews

Course 4.5

Organization 3.6

Spectators 3.5

Number of comments: 8

L. S. from Singapore (11/11/2019) "An autumn marathon in the Korean countryside" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Chunchon Int'l Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The Chosun Ilbo Chuncheon Marathon is an annual marathon which is held in late October. It is the second largest marathon race in Korea after Seoul Marathon. The cut-off for FM is 6hrs & HM is 2.5hrs. There is an English webpage to register & pay by credit card. Most of the race packs are sent to local addressees but foreign runners can collect them at the Information Counter of the Marathon Village or on the Race Day. The start & finish were at Gongjicheon Park Stadium this year. The baggage deposit was orderly, well-organized & according to race numbers. The atmosphere was chilly & salubrious at the start with enthusiastic runners & supporters. The mood was cheerful, exciting & ebullient. The weather was perfect throughout the run with Temp ranging 5-18°C. The course brought runners out of the city into the autumn splendor of the Korean countryside. We ran along river banks, hugging a scenic & tranquil reservoir, and towards a majestic dam. Distance markers were clearly & accurately placed, and there were water, ISO & first aid stations every 5km. There were also chocolate buns/banana stands, & sponge stations, but a noticeable absence of GU/sports gel distributed. Cheer support was energetic, warm & lively; and there were several musical percussion groups in their colorful traditional costumes to encourage runners. After 28km, there were some volunteers with anti-cramping sprays & arthritis gel. There was even a big tent at 35km for tired runners to lie down and get a massage! I would run this marathon again, and recommend Chuncheon which has her own speciality food cuisine. This small city is 1hr 15mins from Seoul by ITX train. There's also a direct intercity bus that takes you from Chuncheon to Incheon Airport in 2½ hrs. Go for their signature Dakgalbi spicy stir-fried chicken & Mak-guksu buckwheat noodles at the Myeong-dong after the marathon. Learn some Korean or carry the Papago App when you're there.
P. M. from Ontario (11/6/2017) "Beautiful course - not for beginers" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Chunchon Int'l Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Pros. As others have said the course is beautiful and the crowd support is good. Lots of traditional Korean music along the route. Cons. Unless you speak Korean you can easily get confused. I did not run into any English speakers aside from a couple from South Africa. Organizers did not speak english. Fewest international runners of any race I have ever been to. The Koreans all come from racing clubs and they all stick together in packs of 10-20 so they don't mix much. All of the running clubs have their own tents and they all stay together in their tents. Can be lonely at the start for an individual who doesn't speak Korean. Still able to soak up a great race atmosphere and have fun but I would not recommend it for somebody new to marathons.
Matthew Cochran from NC, United States (12/5/2016) "Great International Marathon" (about: 2016) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Chunchon Int'l Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Pros: Very scenic beautiful course. Even on a cloudy windy day I enjoyed it. It has a few slopes, but nothing I felt was too difficult except for one hill around the 10 or 15k mark. The end is nice and flat, so you should have a nice smooth finish. Great time of the year for a marathon. This year it was cloudy, a little rainy, and windy but still tolerable. If the rain and wind went away this would have been a perfect temperature. The fan support was fantastic! Tons of spectators out there cheering and people playing instruments. The ending is great as you are coming back into the city with many spectators cheering you on for the last 5k of the race. Many of them even had water, soda, and/or gatorade station setup. There are designated English speakers there to help you at the Information tent. Also most Koreans speak a little English so I never felt helpless and lost. The sleeveless shirt was nice. It doesn't have the name of the marathon on it but whatever it is still a quality shirt. You get a pretty standard medal for completing the race. It actually came with your packet you pick up at the beginning which I thought was different. Cons: I noticed some previous comments said the race info wasn't all that clear. And while I can't speak to how it was before, it seemed to still be confusing for me who only speaks English. Registration was simple enough, but I had no idea if I needed to pick up my packet the day before or not. I found out I picked it up race day. Also on race day I wasn't sure where I picked up my packet. I saw a tent labeled Information and figured I would start there. It turns out that is the packet pick up tent as well. Like I said earlier there are some designated English speakers there so they are trying to make this easier for foreigners. Some people thought the aid stations were too far apart, every 5k. For me this didn't bother me but I thought I would mention it. There were no gu/blocks,gel whatever nutrition supplement you take during the race stations. Instead they had a chocolate moonpie station half way through, which I thought was very strange for a run. I also noticed people literally stopping to eat these like they were on a break. I don't know who would eat this during a race and why you would stop. I kept running and passed on the moonpie. I definitely grabbed some at the end though. Anyways I would carry your own supplements for this race if you do not already. Maybe this was just me but the pacers seemed very inconsistent. I kept a steady pace to finish near 4 hours. I remember passing the 4 hours pacer and never saw them again until they sped past me towards the end. I guess they finished on time, but I prefer to keep a steady pace. Overall: I really enjoyed this race and would recommend it to anyone. There are some cons, but that is the case with any race and I felt like these were very minor. If you are looking to try an international marathon, go for this one, you won't be disappointed.
C. L. from Hong Kong (12/2/2011) "Scenic especially in 1st 10K. Not much elevation." (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Chunchon Int'l Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Runner shall not miss this course for 2 reasons. The lake scenery is beautiful. You may break your PB by another 5~10 minutes. Runners were assigned by sections to cross the start line based on their PB. This was pretty organized but would be better if there were fewer groups to manage. The group I was assigned could only start 20 minutes after the fisrt group. There were another 4 groups behind mine. Runners got cool down quickly.
Hee Raymond from Hong Kong (11/4/2011) "Scenic!" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Chunchon Int'l Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Race info: Atrocious Race course: Beautiful Race weather: Perfect 8-14deg C Race organization: Race Pros:Extremely scenic and amazing views together with warm morale support from the sidelines. A chance to be mesmerized by the quiet country scenery of South Korea Race flaws:Inadequate water station after 35km. Should have more water stations as runners get tired and dehydrated these last few kms of the race. The run-up for the marathon for foreigners are terrible. Not much of information for foreigners and not knowing the local language can be a nightmare for non locals as Koreans can be very poor in the English language.
L. P. from Yeosu, South Korea (10/26/2010) "Beautiful Course, Amazing Organization!!!" (about: 2010) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Chunchon Int'l Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I'm an English teacher in Korea. This was my fourth and largest marathon I've run in. I couldn't believe how well it was organized it was. My race number, timing chip, race booklet, and jacket were mailed to me about a week and a half before the start. Stayed at Se Jong Hotel the night before; I met some Koreans who were over 60, had started running in their 50's, and had already done over 50 marathons!! When I got to the start area, it was nice because everyone gets sectioned off based on previous marathon time. There were 8 or 9 groups! And an elite group of Kenyans and Ethiopians started ahead of the A group. The course was beautiful as it wrapped around a reservoir. The crowd was sparse in areas, but the scenery made up for it. There were a couple of hilly areas, but nothing to make the legs overly cramped. Some of my friends told me that the porta-johns weren't obvious along the course, but they were there. There was water or sponges or food every 5K. I didn't see any sports gels, so if you like that kind of thing, carry it with you. The weather was perfect for this time of year in Korea! I gave spectators 4 stars just because crowds in Asia are a little more subdued than one might be accustomed to. However, this is probably one of the better supported marathons in Korea. Everyone was friendly. I would do it again if I ever find myself coming back here.
J. L. from Sydney, Australia (10/31/2009) "Big numbers, lakeside course" (about: 2009) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Chunchon Int'l Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Pre-race: registration was a bit fiddly because you could only pay if you had a Korean credit card; otherwise you had to do an international bank transfer. Communication with the organizers was very good though, and they answered all of my questions since the info on the website in English was a bit patchy at times. The race itself was well organized, with staggered wave starts inside the stadium for the 20,000 registered runners, the vast majority being Korean male masters runners. They played Chariots of Fire with the start of each wave - very exciting! They had two to three pacers per wave with huge balloons, so they were easy to spot, but I think they were running to gun time or something, because (for example) the four-hour pacer was running about half a minute per kilometer faster than he was supposed to be. The loop course follows a big lake, so it's mostly flat, although with a 1 KM gradual climb at the 40 KM mark. The first 23 KM or so are quite pretty, with views of forests with the leaves are changing color for autumn, but the rest of the way goes through the city, which is less inspiring - and you have to share the road with traffic. There were some bands, dancers and drummers along the course, but there weren't many spectators, and lots of them were running clubs who were only looking out for their members. There were drink/snack stations every 5 KM, and sponge stations halfway between the drink stations. There was plenty of water, Gatorade and snacks including choco-marshmallow-biscuit pies, gels, bananas and cherry tomatoes; but given that the race started at 10 a.m., it was pretty hot and I was driven to trying to drink from the sponges. I don't remember seeing any porta-loos along the course, so guys were peeing everywhere. They do, however, have medics on rollerblades with all sorts of anti-cramping spray, and there was a big casualty tent at around 35 KM where people were getting physios to tape up their legs. The finish is inside the stadium, which was fantastic. Overall, it was a fun day and a great way to see the area, and you get a lot for the super cheap registration fee (about AUD $40) - a quality, Asics, long-sleeved, warm top instead of a cotton finisher's shirt.
Richard Zainfeld from Houston, Texas (11/11/2004) "Good course, well organized, great time" (about: 2004) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Chunchon Int'l Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I was in Korea on business and decided to run this marathon. The course was very beautiful, around a lake and over the spillway. Very well organized. Staggered start so no crowding at all despite 24,000 people. Would do it again.

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