Honam Marathon

1:39:31 - my final time for the Honam Half Marathon. The race last Sunday was everything I had hoped for. My original goal was to hit 1:45:00,so it was exciting to come in more than 5 minutes faster than what I had planned. The race was fulfilling for many reasons...it was great to bring two months training into fruition, I met some wonderful people, and racing competitively again brought back some good memories of running high school XC.

I thought I would be running alone the day of the race but it wasn't far into the first kilometer before finding a friend. A fellow foreigner pulled up beside me early in the race, introduced himself to me and we stuck a healthy pace together for the first 10 kilometers. Chris (pictured below) is a brewer from South Africa and, along with his wife Daniela, a longtime avid runner.


I shared a brief hello with the couple before the race, thinking to myself that I would see them again later in the day. I was right when he pulled up beside me in the first leg and we enjoyed a short chat. It was good to have Chris' encouragement during the run, it really does help to have a fellow runner push you along...it was good teamwork all the way to the half mark. Chris managed the strength to push ahead, finishing two minutes ahead of my own time. He was nice enough to send me our shared splits the week after the race:

1st km = 4:15

2nd km = 4:30

3rd km = 4:41

4th km = 4:38

5th km = 4:17

6th km = 4:37

7th km = 4:34

8th km = 4:48

9th km = 4:42

10th km = 4:42

Thanks.

I had a bit of worry halfway into the race when I began to cramp up and the pain became crippling. It was one of those awful stitch cramps that gets you in the gut and paralyzes the rest of your body. I had a moment where I thought I had screwed my chances for a good time. After pushing through it and gaining control of my breathing, I managed to catch back up to my original pace. It was helpful to have some of the other racers push me on. Even though there were only 2-3 foreigners in my race, the comradery with the Korean runners was encouraging the entire way.

I thought I was well into two hours when I hit the stadium because the cramp had slowed me down. Quite surprisingly I was well ahead of my mark as I approached the finish line. I ended up hitting halfway at 53 minutes and managed the second leg of the race even faster than the first at 47 minutes...much quicker than I had imagined at the time.

Altogether it was a fulfilling day. The girls - Leah, Caitlin, and Cassandra - had a great run together and we all finished the event on a happy note. This race has inspired me to go for longer distances, adventure out into the countryside more, and set more challenging goals for myself. Perhaps a full marathon, a distance bike journey, or even a transnational walk will be in the books, who knows?....maybe Greg Allen.


I have to give full credit to my lanky British friend, Stuart Beesley, for the beautiful photographs of the day. He really is a nice guy once you get to know him...don't let his dead-person eyes fool you.