He started running marathons in 2004 after enjoying mountain climbing. It was when he met the Whimoon Alumni Marathon Club (Whima-dong), which is mainly comprised of high school alumni. Lee Han-gu (63), who retired from his company and has been driving a taxi for the past two years, completed his 500th full marathon of 42.195 km on the 27th of last month and his 100th ultra marathon of over 100 km on the 4th. He has run over 31,000 km in competitions over the past 20 years.
“I was hiking in the mountains when I had the chance to participate in a 10km marathon in 2003. My record was in the 52-minute range, and other people told me to try running a marathon because they thought my record was good. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it until I found out about Hwimadong. We started running together in January 2004.”
![[양종구의 100세 시대 건강법]“I completed 100km 100 times… I enjoyed running and my knees are fine.”](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/08/15/126544459.2.jpg "[양종구의 100세 시대 건강법]“I completed 100km 100 times… I enjoyed running and my knees are fine.”")
Hwimadong runs every second and fourth Saturday at 3 PM at Yeouido Park or Namsan in Seoul. Thanks to his well-developed lower body from climbing mountains as much as he did the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range, he was no slouch in the marathon. He first challenged the full course in March 2004 and finished it in 4 hours and 56 minutes. Later that year, he achieved a ‘sub-four’ (under 4 hours) with 4 hours and 30 minutes, and in October 2005, he achieved 3 hours and 58 minutes. His best record was 3 hours and 32 minutes at the Seoul Marathon and Dong-A Marathon in March 2012. He has run the Dong-A Marathon without missing a single one since 2005. 2012 was Lee’s best year personally in marathons. He completed his 100th full marathon, two 100km ultramarathons, and a 308km cross-country race across Korea. The 308km crossing of South Korea starts from Ganghwa, Incheon and ends at Gyeongpodae, Gangneung, Gangwon.
“I first ran an ultramarathon in 2009. As I completed the full course, I naturally began to think about ultramarathons. In April of that year, I completed the 50km race held at Namsan in Seoul, and in June, I completed my first 100km race in 13 hours and 50 minutes. I ran over 100km 2-3 times a year while also running the full course, and I started running seriously after joining the 1961-born Ox Ultramarathon Group in 2017.”
‘Sottimoim’ is a club that does not train together but participates in national ultramarathon competitions. Lee ran competitions of 100km or more 8 times in 2017, 17 times in 2018, and a whopping 25 times in 2019. He ran 200km in June 2019 in 34 hours and 42 minutes. His personal best record for 100km is 11 hours and 33 minutes set in November 2018. However, he is running slowly, from 13 hours to 16 hours.
“People are scared when they hear about ultramarathons. But it’s easier than you think. I walk uphill and run only on flat ground and downhill. The important thing is not to worry about the time at all. If it gets tough, I just take a break and go. Some people run hard to get in under 10 hours, but that can ruin their bodies. I’ve never been injured so far.”
Lee started training systematically at the beginning of the marathon, but at some point, he stopped training and only participated in competitions. Lee said, “To finish the full course in under 4 hours, you need to train. But training was stressful. It wasn’t easy to run every day. So after completing the full course 50 times, I stopped training and only participated in competitions.” Instead, he participated in competitions almost every weekend. He ran in almost every marathon in the country.
However, he said that he needed to train because he could only walk 600-700 steps a day while driving a taxi. The decrease in marathon competitions since the spread of the novel coronavirus in 2020 also lowered his performance. This is because the number of competitions he participated in decreased. As a result, he recently had difficulty setting a ‘sub-four’ record in the full course, and the 100 km run took more than 16 hours. ‘Fun run’ may also require basic physical strength. He started training again.
Mr. Lee will be participating in the 20th Busan Summer Beach Ultra Marathon 100km held in Haeundae, Busan on the 17th. He will be running again in two weeks after completing his 100th 100km run. He said that he is the 36th person in Korea to have run 100km over 100 times.
“It’s a difference in thinking. When I run an ultramarathon, I enjoy talking with my friends and running. I try to find some time to relax. When I finish, I feel like all the waste inside my body has been washed out. I run for this fun.”
Yang Jong-gu, Sports Department Deputy Director [email protected]
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2024-08-16 02:28:08