The 10K Run

A few weeks ago, one of my friends asked me if I would run a 10K with her in Seoul. For some reason, I thought this sounded like a good idea and decided to go for it. I had been running almost every day since arriving in Seoul, and I made it through a half marathon 2 years ago....so I thought that 6.2 miles didn't sound too bad. I didn't really take into account that since I've been in Korea, my "runs" have been more like slow jogs. These jogs were also made easier by the fact that it is almost impossible to run in my area without having to take a rest at a stoplight every 5-10 minutes.

 The day of the race finally arrived (it was last Saturday) and I woke up thinking "this is going to suck...why am I doing this?" We arrived at the check-in (3 other teachers ended up running too), and some very interesting things happened before the race. The first notable thing occurred when a man on a bicycle accidentally snagged the rope holding up the blow up the start/finish line. This ripped a giant hole in it...so there was no real start/finish line for the actual race. Even better- shortly after it happened, the man walked buy us reeking of alcohol...yep, a drunk guy took out the start/finish line. I was really surprised that no one really cared, and the guy didn't get in trouble at all. There was also  a massage line right before the race. I wish I could have gotten a picture of this, because it was pretty funny. Random strangers rubbing each others backs. Also, the race had an MC at the start/finish line. I couldn't understand what he was saying because he only spoke Korean. But before the race he kept prompting the crowd and the runners to randomly yell. Finally, I had another encounter with a Korean who thought it would be funny to hop in a picture with some foreigners.

Before the race with the random guy who wanted a picture with us

The Start/Finish Line (RIP) before it was destroyed

 My friend Kelly and I finishing the race

All smiles with our medals after the race :)

The race ended up being pretty challenging. It was a windy day, which is never fun for a runner, and we ended up running into the wind for the first 5K of the race. Going into the race, I knew I wasn't in great shape. After the race, I realized that I was probably in worse shape than I had thought haha. But overall, it was a really good experience, and I was really happy that I ran.

The race was along the Hangang River in Seoul so the scenery was beautiful. With the exception of a few gradual inclines, (I hesitate to call them hills) the course was pretty flat. I ended up running the 10K in 52 minutes (not a great time, but could have been much worse), and ended up finishing fourth. (This sounds better than it really was- there were only 30 women in the race haha!)