MBN Naju Marathon Event Thrives... Marathoners Form a Long Queue

The ‘2023 MBN Naju Marathon,’ which featured a course along the Yeongsan River, the lifeline of the southern provinces, and the historic and cultural heritage area of Naju, the thousand-year-old magistrate town, was successfully held with the participation of over 5,000 marathoners from across the country.

Despite being the first event held in a provincial city rather than the metropolitan or major urban areas, the organizers reported a total of 5,018 marathon participants, demonstrating the potential for the event to grow into an internationally recognized official marathon in the future.

Naju City in Jeollanam-do announced on the 9th that it held the ‘2023 MBN Naju Marathon’ on the morning of the 8th from 9 a.m., with the theme ‘Your Run Becomes History,’ at the Naju Sports Complex, Yeongsan Riverside Road, and the old downtown marathon course area.

This marathon event included individual races such as the ‘Half’ (21.0975km), ‘10km,’ and ‘5km’ categories, as well as a club competition (team event) in the ‘Half’ category.

The club competition, which differentiated this event from others, was conducted with teams of six runners per team: one male in his 30s, two males in their 40s, two males aged 50 and above, and one female aged 20 or older. The combined times were averaged, and the team with the fastest average time won.

Among the total participants, about 3,000 were team competitors, reflecting the enthusiastic participation of marathon teams and clubs from all over the country who came to Naju.

Alongside them, Yoon Byung-tae, Mayor of Naju; Shin Jeong-hoon, Member of the National Assembly for Naju-Hwasun; Lee Dong-won, CEO of MBN; Lee Sang-man, Chairman of the Naju City Council; Kim Chun-jin, President of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation; Han Doo-bong, President of the Korea Rural Economic Institute; Yoon Ui-jun, President of Korea Energy Engineering University; Lee Joo-hee, President of Dongshin University; and local city and provincial council members gathered to participate in a harmonious race.

The course started along the Yeongsan Riverside Road, known for its pristine ecological scenery, and included landmarks such as Namgomon and Dongjeommun gates of Naju Eupseong Fortress, the old Naju Station and Naju Student Independence Movement Memorial Hall?starting points of the Gwangju Student Independence Movement?the Yeongsanpo Lighthouse, the only inland lighthouse in Korea, the Moksago-eul Market where visitors could taste Naju’s local flavors and traditional foods, and the area near Gujinpo.

Most of the course was flat terrain without steep slopes, and with various sights to see, many family participants with young children enjoyed a weekend marathon outing.

In the results, for the 5km course, Lee Geon in the men’s division finished with a time of 19 minutes 30 seconds, and Kim Jin-ah in the women’s division finished in 22 minutes 36 seconds. For the 10km, Lee In-sik finished in 35 minutes 32 seconds, and Park Eun-jung finished in 42 minutes 56 seconds, each taking first place.

In the half marathon (21.0975km), male winner Ma Seong-min finished in 1 hour 19 minutes 50 seconds, and female winner Chu Eun-ha finished in 1 hour 32 minutes 44 seconds.

The highly anticipated club competition was won by the team ‘Gwangju Team Ace.’ This team’s six runners in the half marathon achieved an average time of 1 hour 27 minutes 27 seconds, earning them a place in the Hall of Fame along with a footprint honor.

Mayor Yoon Byung-tae of Naju, who completed the 10km course, said, “I felt proud hearing that participants from the metropolitan area and other regions had a good impression of Naju. Using this first event as a stepping stone, we will add a full marathon course and develop this into one of Korea’s premier major marathon events.”

Naju = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yuk-bong bless4ya@asiae.co.kr

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.