Cherry Blossom Marathon

The Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Marathon is one of my favourite Gyeongju events. You may remember the pictures from last year where I got to wear a hanbok! This year, the run was timed perfectly with the blossoms and Bomun was completely exploding with flowers. Sadly, there was no hanbok station, but I still had a great time!

The morning started bright an early, as I needed to be at Bomun around 7am. Because of congestion due to the run, I figured I would bike there. I estimated it would take me 40 minutes if I biked without stopping (I usually do to take pictures), and I was precisely right! I met up with my friends, and we registered, checked in our bags, and enjoyed the verrry ccrisp morning air. By 8am, the run began.

First to go were the full marathon runners. These people are so intense. Despite the chill in the air, they all wore short shorts and tank tops, because I imagine somewhere along the 20th kilometer one is pretty far beyond chilly. Next were the half marathon runners, a pretty impressive lot as well. The 10km runners followed, and this included some of my more athletic friends. Finally the 5km race began, which included yours truly!

While 5km is nothing special, I decided I would jog it this year instead of walking. I jogged along with two friends and it couldn't have been lovelier. I even finished the last little bit with a sprint, so I felt like the worlds most powerful athlete with those endorphins pumping.

After the race, there is a whole bunch of stuff for participants to do. We were given water, a snack pack, and a medal. Handing out these items were volunteers. It turns out, almost all the volunteers were recently graduated girls from my school! I felt like such a star finishing my run only to be met by a crowd of fans calling out "Anne Teacher!!" Next we can get some free noodle soup, free jimjilbang eggs (a new obsession of mine. Eggs that are very slowly cooked in low temperatures for a long time, resulting in a chewier and yummier boiled egg), and best of all, free makoli. We spent the morning enjoying the sunshine and the freebies before heading home. Point of smugness: despite being caught in insanely frustrating pedestrian traffic for half my ride home, I managed to beat those who took a cab home (because they couldnt find one!) and about tied those who took a shuttle. Yay  me.

I didn't take any pictures this year because I already have a bunch of blossom pictures.. and luckily, my friend Dan is an excellent photographer and captured much of the day. Here are some of his pictures!

I really want to know where to buy such
awesome tights.

This is my favourite of Dan's photos. Look how
beautiful our day was!

This photo is not too bad either. Look at
that pro athlete!

The Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Marathon is definitely my favourite Gyeongju event. I highly recommend it to anyone in town in the spring. Who knows, maybe one day I'll even upgrade to the 10km division!