COVER STORY Marathons at city centers inconvenience residents

Approximately 40,000 runners participated in the Seoul DongA Marathon on March 15. The race began on a Sunday morning at 5 a.m., starting from Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul and stretching to Jamsil Sports Complex in the city's southeastern Songpa District. The annual marathon was hosted by a major newspaper company together with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency approved the race and its path.

Police took charge of traffic control during the race, deploying forces from Jongno District, Hyehwa-dong, Namdaemun Market, Jung District, Dongdaemun Market, Seongdong District, Gwangjin District, Songpa District and Suseo-dong. Traffic controls were imposed and lifted at different times to allow for the passage of runners through each area. Controls around the Jamsil section were lifted at 2:30 p.m., nearly 10 hours after the first were imposed at the start of the race.

While the participants were running across the city to cheers from onlookers, others were complaining. The event caused massive traffic issues across the city as vehicles were forced to take detours. Hundreds of public bus routes crossing or overlapping the race course were temporarily closed or had to use alternate routes, forcing many residents to use subways or taxis, increasing congestion and disrupting people's daily lives.

A similar problem emerged in November last year when the JTBC Seoul Marathon, another large-scale, citywide event, saw 34,000 runners go from World Cup Park in the city's western Mapo District to Olympic Park in Songpa District. Mapo Agricultural & Marine Products Market, less than 100 meters from the starting point, saw vendors lose business from traffic control measures that blocked customers' entry to the marketplace and prevented deliveries by suppliers.

“Sunday morning is peak time for us, when we can net the highest sales of the week. When customers and even our suppliers cannot get into the marketplace, what are we supposed to do? I’m tired of these marathons, which take place so many times a year that I cannot even count,” a merchant at the marketplace said.

A delivery truck driver who had completed one of his early morning rounds and was on his way to the company’s logistics center for the next set of deliveries discovered he and his truck were surrounded by the fenced-off race course. “I was literally locked out in the middle of the road and wasn't able to return to the logistics center. My delivery schedule was all messed up and I made almost no earnings on the day,” the driver complained.

Marathons often affect residential areas as well. During the JTBC marathon, a resident of an apartment in Songpa District's Jamsil-dong planned to drive to Suseo Station to pick up her parents. The race blocked the apartment’s main entrance, giving her no other option but to walk more than 5 kilometers to the station.

A resident at the Olympic Village apartment complex in Songpa District's Oryun-dong also complained that the 5,540 households living in the complex were entirely surrounded by the race and were effectively trapped. “So we cannot leave the apartments during the marathon? I couldn’t find a single point to drive out of the complex. We were literally imprisoned on an island, cut off from traffic,” he said.

Complaints are mounting over marathons not just in Seoul but in cities across the nation. Despite their positive impact on the health of participants, marathons disrupt local businesses and the daily lives of residents who live in the vicinity.

The complaints are on the rise as marathons increase in popularity in Korea. Running has become a nationwide trend, with over 140 marathons held in Seoul last year and 350 more in other locations around the country. This year, over 540 events have been either completed or scheduled nationwide.

Including shorter races of 5 kilometers, 10 kilometers and half marathons hosted by local governments, global sports brands, companies and sports agencies under the purview of local governments and private marathon associations, there are now an average of 45 marathons being hosted each month. About 80 percent of them are held in spring, between March and May, or in autumn between September and November. On some weekends, there can be up to 20 marathons held on a single day.

The flood of marathons and shorter runs is creating mobility problems for residents including increased traffic congestion, crowding on subways and alternative transportation, detours and closures for bus routes and sometimes the inability to get around at all. For businesses, traffic control limits their operations by affecting accessibility for customers and logistics workers. Emergency services including fire trucks and ambulances can face critical delays from road closures.

Merchants from the Mapo Agricultural & Marine Products Market staged a protest in front of the market to demand a suspension of future marathons in April 2025. They wanted the city to create stronger limits on athletic events using public roads and to introduce a public-private discussion body to oversee future events.

“Countless marathons are being held, undermining the livelihoods of market merchants. A recent event completely blocked the market entrance, which we've never seen before,” said Jeong Yang-ho, a representative from the market.

“Twenty-two athletic events were held at World Cup Park in the first half of the year. Excluding the winter season, most of the events happen between April and June. During that period, races are held almost every weekend, creating significant difficulties for operations of the market merchants.”