SNU Fourth Annual Marathon Ends with Great Success

SNU is widely known for its humongous campus. It goes without saying that after cherry blossoms bloom and fall in Yeoui-do (heart of downtown Seoul where an attractive park famous for rows and rows of cherry blossom trees is located), cherry blossoms at SNU bloom (precisely because it's cooler given its location at the foot of Mt. Gwanak), and then finally after those flowers fade away those up near Building 301 (the College of Engineering, the highest building on campus) begin blooming well into May. Ask any student and she/he will be able to give you testimonies of just how big the weather difference all over campus is.

While getting around the SNU Gwanak campus is an adventure even using motor vehicles (as it takes a full 30 minutes for one round trip of the circular road on the university shuttle), 205 members of the SNU community made daring decisions to jog around the entire campus plus all the way to Inheon Elementary School at Nakseongdae and back, as the running course was so.

They gathered at the Main Stadium one hour past noon on a hot May 4 day. The elder men, who seemed like staff members of SNU, were in typical marathon short-shorts armed with sunglasses and caps. I was surprised to find most female students in long pants-something I thought demonstrated Korean women's aversion to getting tanned. After Dean of the Office of Student Affairs LEE Hak Lae and representatives from SNU's Department of Physical Education who organized the marathon gave their greetings, the running course and rules were briefed, and warm-up stretching drills were performed altogether, we took off.

Out of 205 participants, a majority of 194 completed the ten kilometer-long course - with a very steep slope up the mountain and down, the steepest measuring up to 70 degrees. The first one to cross the finish line was SAITO Hitoshi, a first-year graduate student studying Korean History at SNU Graduate School of Humanities after graduating from Keio University in Japan, with a record of 37 min 51 sec. LEE Young-Tak, a PhD student of chemistry, finished close behind with a mere 25 second difference. Spectator and photographer LEE Soo Yeon commented that"the competition seem[ed] especially heated among the guys." MOON Seo-Jin, a student in the Department of Sculpture and also in her fourth year as a member of the SNU Mountain Climbing Club, was the first woman to cross the finish line, with a record of 50 min 29 sec."My goal for this marathon was to run the whole course without walking. I am happy that this led to a good record." In receiving her trophy she shouted"Let's go Mountaineers!" to show her affection towards her mountain climbing club's members. Saying that she wanted to recommend the competition to lowerclassmen, she described the experience as “fun and a good feeling running together with my fellow club members."

Trophies were given to the first three to cross the finish line for each of the four categories of participants -male students and staff (including faculty), and female students and staff. Below are the names of the winners of trophies.

In the case of the men, seemingly confirming that youth cannot be beaten, the first place male staff trailed behind the students to come in fifth. For the women, the difference between the students and staff was even more explicit; no women crossed the line for a full three minutes after third place KIM Su Min's finish. Most of the staff participants were employees of the POSCO Sports Complex. One third of male staff participants were from POSCO. For up to tenth place in each category gift certificates were also given. All said and done, the 205 runners who braved the hot weather deserve a good round of applause.

Though it was not exactly an idle jog during which you could enjoy the beautiful scenery of Gwanak campus, it is tradition among SNU students that you should walk the complete circular road at least once before you graduate. Honoring that tradition, we must also keep in mind that the average SNU student’s 'physical' age, that is, referring to fitness level, amounts to being in his or her late thirties, according to a study done by Professor KIM YonSu of the Department of Sports Medicine at SNU. The marathon, thus, was a perfect event for which the SNU community could increase their stamina, as well as strengthen their friendships with one another.

Written by LEE BoYoung, SNU English Editor, bylee0708@gmail.com   ?
Reviewed by Eli Park, Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies
Proofread by Brett Johnson, SNU English Editor