Every November and April, Jinju hosts a marathon. Last fall I participated in such a race for the first time in my life--only a 5k, don't get ahead of yourself here--and had a great time. So, naturally, I did the same this past weekend and ran another 5k race. Except...
According to two of my friends' pedometers, the race was actually a 6.3 kilometer course. The other pedometer read 4.1 miles. Yes, I stand by my beliefs that Korea is a very special place indeed.
HOWEVER, with all its little flops, Korea always comes back and impresses me even more. After the race the thousands of participants and spectators helped themselves to free plates of tofu and kimchi, bowls of kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew) and unlimited makgeoli (delicious Korean rice wine, which I was unfortunately unaware of until the next day). So, in typical Korean fashion, my friends and I sat among the crowds of Koreans picnicking by the riverside (though, as foreigners we were the only ones sitting directly on the grass--Koreans don't like to sit directly on the ground and always, without fail, lay down some newspaper or cardboard or something).
The race itself was a bit chaotic. There must have been at least a thousand runners in the 5k and there was no organization in the sense of putting children and families in the back, so my friends and I got stuck in the middle of this massive crowd for the first five minutes or so, slowly weaving ourselves through strollers, scrambling children and the like. I probably didn't get to actually start running like normal until about the five minute mark. I've certainly learned my lesson for next time...
