It was the 88th anniversary of the oldest race in Asia. The biggest in Korea. With all due respect, it falls far short of any races held in Japan (at least of those I took part in).
For starters the crowd supports were sporadic at best, though not as bad as I heard from previous participants. Water stations only provide water, Pocari, bananas and Lotte chocolate buns. The first half of the course was simply boring: running twice through Eulji-ro and Cheonggyecheon-ro. One doesn't see visual novelty until one reaches 18k mark. Lately my body condition has been a little less ideal for a long-distance race, caught cold a week or so before this race so I couldn't have a 30k+ jog to prep this Seoul Marathon, only managed a 25k since last month's Kitakyushu Marathon.
I would've finished with an even slower time were it not for the coca cola provided by lovingly well-meaning civilians/spectators. This was the first time I didn't have calf spasm during a race (likely at around 35th/36th K). Thanks to them!❤
But at the finishing stage (final 2k), we bumped into those 10k walkers (both headed to the same finish: Jamsil Sports Complex). One could hardly sprint (one would probably do) to the finish because those frolicking 10k walkers/trotters really got in the way of serious full marathoners. 😒
All in all it was a cheap race, participation fee is even lower than HK (Standard Chartered) marathon's. But as the most prestigious race in the country, the expectations should be high, but are they really? Bleh.