27 December 2014 | Seoul Trail | Trail Running | 26km – 3:37 Hours

Running with the Great Man

I love running with Tony. He’s focused but fun and friendly. He’s been with us now for our last 3 runs of the Seoul Trail. This last portion was 26 km. It was the longest portion we had done but the least technical because the majority of the course was flat and ran along roads or river walks that skirted the edges of Seoul. However there was still some ice and snow to deal with which I experienced first-hand early in our trek.

Our goal was to complete Trail #3 which started at Gwangnaru Station and ended at Susco Station. We would complete a total of 4 stamps and would only have 3 left for our New Years Day Run.

The first stamp was about 1 KM away from the start point and offered a very nice view of the Olympic Bridge. After getting our stamp and taking a quick photo it was game on. Tony kept us on a fairly brisk 6min per km pace. We sustained that pace for the majority of the run except when we stopped for breaks. Once we made it onto some real trails we were forced to slow down. We became extremely slow after coming across a significant patch of ice. I managed to fall 3 times in the same location. As always is the case the third time was the charm resulting in slamming my left knee cap on a half buried rock. There was some blood, swelling and pain but a quick ice message on it from Jacky and we were off running (albeit slower) again.

As has been the case in previous runs Tony maintained his pace at around 6
minutes and he would rarely slow down and walk for ice. I think the real motivation for him was to hurry up and finish the run so he could get home for some much needed sleep. Tony is a member of the Korean National Police Force and he had just gotten off work that morning before coming to run with us. His endurance is truly phenomenal. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post he does ultra distance events including double Iron Man distance and has done bike rides across all of Korea.

We actually did double the distance from the previous days run but were able to complete it within the same time of 3 hours and some change. All in all it was a good run and I only had to fall a totally of 4 times which kept Jacky amused. As always when we got down to the last 3 kms of the run Jacky who had been trailing Tony and I for most of the way took a bathroom break and got out in front and stayed in front till the end. She was always the first to spot the Red Korean Mail Boxes converted into stamp stations. The last one she spotted 200 meters away at the top of a hill leading off the running path to the main road. She was so excited that she started racing to the end and up the hill taking pictures of Tony and I as we walked up. At this point even Tony was a bit tired. We made our way to the Subway Station and said our goodbyes until New Years Day when we would complete the Seoul Trail!

-Sam