We took at shuttle bus from Seoul at 5:30 in the morning. On the bus, I passed out asleep, and when I woke up, I looked around and saw tanks! There were army tanks everywhere near a large green area.
Kelly and I got off our buses and walked over to the Race Packet Pickup area for Foreigners. We were given a heavy cardboard box. I was expecting to get a free t-shirt or something and my racing bib, but instead, I got a 3kg bag of rice... That was weird. I felt like it was more of a punishment to carry around than a gift.
We put on our racing bibs and chips in our shoes laces to mark our time.
Shortly after we got there, we heard an explosion. It kind of scared everyone...but we realized it was just fireworks going off to signal the start of the Full Marathon. Ten minutes later the Half Marathon started. As our fireworks went off, it looked like no one was moving. There were SO many people I ended up having to walk and slowly jog for the first part of the race.
The race was on a road surrounded by green and yellow plants. It was a very pretty area. Eventually we crossed a bridge over a river and I saw a beautiful view. The air there seemed very clean compared to city air.
During the race, I saw there were many teams of runners with matching running gear. Also, there were lots of men wearing "ROK ARMY" shirts. We assumed that the army used the race as a training exercise. They were not very fast, however.
Along the way, many people were cheering for me. They shouted, "FIGHTING!" and in Korean, "KAJA!" which means "Let's go!" I had a lot of fun. I was sad that I didn't find anyone to run with me the whole way. I saw a few women runners running fast, but eventually I passed many of them. I have yet to find the exact results, but I think I was one of the first women finishers for the Half Marathon.
I felt pretty good, although by kilometer 16 I felt pretty terrible and wanted to be done. I slowed down the pace a bit, but never stopped. I couldn't tell where the end of the race was, until suddenly I turned a corner and saw the finish line 20 meters in front of me. I really should have picked it up a bit earlier, but I was so tired and had no idea how much longer I could hold on.
After the race I was given a Finisher's medal.
I was also given some strange Herbal Tea Energy Drinks. It tasted pretty bad, but I was so thirsty, I just chugged it. Then, for re-fuel there was free bibimbap and cold seaweed-cucumber soup. It was delicious.
When my friend Kelly finished the race, we walked around and took some pictures together.
We had to wait until 3:00pm for our shuttle bus to take us back to Seoul. Kelly and I fell asleep in the grass. When I woke up from my nap, I saw a group of Korean men sitting on a picnic blanket, grilling barbecue. I said, "Wow, that looks so good!" and accidentally made eye contact with an old man cooking. He smiled and waved me over to join him and his friends for lunch. I looked at Kelly and said, "Come on!" We sat down on their picnic blanket and had so much fun trying to communicate with them in butchered Korean. They also were embarrassed of their English skills, but they had so much fun practicing. They kept passing us more and more Makeoli (Korean Rice Wine). We chatted with them for a good hour until our bus came. What a great end to the day!
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