“I met my husband at a marathon club dinner. Since then, we’ve trained together and competed in competitions. I was afraid of challenging a full marathon course. But my husband always competes in the full course and places high in the rankings. So I thought, ‘What must it feel like to run like that?’ and I thought I would be able to understand my husband only if I completed the full course. So I decided to compete in the full course.”
Office worker Mok Young-ju (41) first challenged the 42.195km full marathon course in the fall of 2016. Her then-boyfriend, husband Lee Byeong-do (40), served as her pacemaker. She finished the race in 3 hours and 47 minutes, and from then on, she fell in love with the marathon. Mok and Lee got married in 2017 because of the marathon, and they train and compete together.
Mr. Mok started running in 2009. He started running at the recommendation of a friend to join him in a 10km race. He ran once or twice a week for health and occasionally participated in the 10km course. Then he met his husband and started running the full course, and he became obsessed with marathons. He said, “I didn’t know it, but other people said I was a good runner. From then on, I ran to shorten my full course time.”
She set her sights on the Boston Marathon, the dream stage for masters marathoners. The Boston Marathon has eligibility criteria. For women in their 30s, a time of 3 hours and 35 minutes or less was required. She used to run 5 to 8 km a day, an average of 100 km a month, but she doubled her running distance to an average of about 200 km a month. That’s 50 km a week. She ran more than 5 days a week in the evening after work. She said, “I had fears about completing the full course, wondering ‘Can I really do it?’ But I gained confidence after completing it with a good record.”
![“Participating in domestic and international competitions with my husband… Marathon is the best way to build a bond between a couple”[양종구의 100세 시대 건강법]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/09/21/130065693.1.jpg "“Participating in domestic and international competitions with my husband… Marathon is the best way to build a bond between a couple”[양종구의 100세 시대 건강법]")
In 2017, she participated in the Seoul Marathon and Dong-A Marathon, finishing in 3 hours and 40 minutes, and in November of that year, she recorded 3 hours and 27 minutes, qualifying for the Boston Marathon. In 2019, she participated in the Boston Marathon with her husband and acquaintances, wearing a modified hanbok and enjoying herself, finishing in 4 hours and 59 minutes. She also ran the London Marathon with her husband in 2018. She followed him and cheered him on when he ran the Berlin Marathon last year. “It was great cheering for my husband, but it was an honor to see the winners of the men’s and women’s elite divisions in person,” Mok recalled.
In the women’s division of the 2023 Berlin Marathon, Tizist Asefa (28, Ethiopia) won the world record with a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds. In the men’s division, Eliud Kipchoge (30, Kenya), who set the world record (2 hours, 1 minute, 09 seconds) in this competition in 2022, won his fifth career Berlin Marathon championship with a time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 42 seconds.
In 2020, due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), there were no competitions, so it was slow. I ran in a club called ‘The New Run’ that I joined in 2019, and I also started trail running in the mountains. Although there were no competitions, there was no problem running on roads and in the mountains. As COVID-19 calmed down and competitions became active again, I challenged myself to break my personal best. And last year, I recorded 3 hours, 14 minutes, and 56 seconds at the Seoul Marathon and Dong-A Marathon. He said, “I ran 400-500km a month. It was difficult to run more than 100km per week, but I was so happy to get the result of my best record.”
“I’ve now reduced my monthly mileage back to 200km. About 10 years ago, I injured my knee ligaments while doing weight training, and when I overdid it, it started to hurt. So now I’m focusing on running for fun.”
Ms. Mok likes to run with people. She runs with her husband, but she also runs with a club. The New Run meets twice a week at the Seongnam Tancheon Stadium in Gyeonggi Province. She said, “Running on a track allows you to run consistently with the right posture and prevents injuries.” She also runs with the ‘7979 Seoul Urban Running Crew (SURC)’ that runs in downtown Seoul every Thursday evening. 7979 SURC is a running program provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Dong-A Ilbo. It is a running crew created by the Seoul Metropolitan Government to commemorate the opening of Gwanghwamun Square in 2022. It means that we become friends (79) by running together from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday evenings. She also participates in a sports brand marathon program.
My husband and I usually participate in local competitions together. Local competitions often include festivals, so there are lots to see and eat. We also ran together in a trail running competition held in Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do in August. He said, “It’s hot in the summer, so we mostly run in the mountains.”
My husband, who started running when he was 20, is a strong player in the masters marathon world. In 2017, he recorded 3rd place (2 hours 32 minutes 12 seconds) in the men’s full course of the Seoul Marathon and Dong-A Marathon and 4th place (2 hours 38 minutes 16 seconds) in the men’s full course of the Gyeongju International Marathon, and was selected as the Dong-A Marathon Athlete of the Year for that year. My husband set a personal best record of 2 hours 28 minutes 22 seconds in the Seoul Marathon and Dong-A Marathon in March of this year, and finished 4th, winning an award at the Seoul Marathon for the third consecutive time. He has been ranked high in various competitions, including winning an award at the Seoul Marathon.
Ms. Mok also took first place in the GTNS Trail Running 5.5km held on September 1st, and third place in the Cheorwon DMZ Marathon 5km held on September 8th, and has been ranking high in various short marathons. Recently, she has been participating in short marathons rather than full courses. It is partly to prevent injuries, but also to run fast and cheer on her husband. She and her husband won together in the 10km Marathon on Ocean Day held in May last year. Ms. Mok said, “Now, when I participate in a competition, many people recognize me. It is fun to run with my husband and build health and love at the same time.”
“I used to avoid running long distances because my knees would hurt. Now I’ve given up on running a full course. I also enjoy running and cheering on my husband who runs hard.”
Ms. Mok has been running the ‘Mongdo Train’ with her husband since last year. She said, “I’ve been running for a long time and I’ve received a lot of support, so I thought about how to repay that support, and so I created a running build-up program that anyone can participate in temporarily during the off-season.” It’s a kind of talent donation volunteer program. The build-up is a training where you start slowly and gradually run faster with each kilometer. Her husband runs the ‘Express Train’ with the goal of ‘sub-three (recording within 3 hours)’ for the full course, and Ms. Mok runs the ‘Local Train’ with the goal of running 10 km in 50 minutes.
Mr. Mok now focuses more on fun runs than winning. His training also focuses on injury prevention. He does a lot of stretching exercises before running and also does a lot of auxiliary exercises, such as skips, to help him maintain his running rhythm. He also does muscle exercises to strengthen the muscles around his knees and ankles. He also uses cold compresses to help him recover quickly after running. That’s why he hasn’t gotten hurt while running yet. He once had hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism at the same time, but the symptoms disappeared while running. Mr. Mok said with a big smile, “If you want to run for a long time, you can’t get hurt. Now, my goal is to run without getting hurt.”
2024-09-21 09:38:27