North Chungcheong Province team defends 61st Unification Relay Marathon title

Hankook Ilbo President Lee Jong-seoung, fourth from left, poses with the North Chungcheong Province team after the 61st Korean Peninsula Unification Relay Marathon at Gunnae Elementary School in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Saturday. / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

By Baek Byung-yeul

The North Chungcheong Province marathon team has won the 61st Korean Peninsula Unification Marathon, Saturday, for the 10th consecutive year.

Hosted by the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times, and sponsored by Dongwha Group, the last runner of the North Chungcheong Province team crossed the finish line first at Tongilchon, also known as Unification Village, in Paju, Gyeonggi Province for a total time 13 hours 44 minutes and 31 seconds.

As well as being the 10th consecutive win for the team, it was their 20th overall since winning in 1963. The runner-up was the Gyeonggi Province team, who recorded 13 hours 46 minutes and 37seconds while the Seoul team came in third.

In the five-day-long race, which some 200 participants run for 259 kilometers in stretches from Jeju to Paju, the North Chungcheong team led the first (Jeju Island course) and second days (from Busan to Daegu); but lost the lead on the third (from Daegu to Daejeon) and fourth days (from Daejeon to Seoul) to the Seoul team. They recovered their lead on the final day after a keen battle with the Gyeonggi Province team.

With the win, the North Chungcheong Province team has solidified their presence as the country’s best relay marathon team. The team’s Lee Min-hyun won the best runner award and Lee Kyeong-ho captured the best rookie runner award. The team’s manager Uhm Gwang-ryeol won the best coach award.

“I would like to express my gratitude to runners and coaches who displayed extraordinary spirit till the end of the race. I am also thankful to the people of North Chungcheong Province,” the manager said.