1 January 2015 | Seoul Trail | Trail Running | 18.3km – 4:10 Hours

The Seoul Trail is 157 kilometers long and runs around the outer edge of Seoul City. When we started running it back on the 16th of November with Appu I didn’t really think much of it. However once we started doing the sections it became a bit of an obsession. Running the Seoul Trail was like reading a good adventure novel. The biggest difference is you were living it.

Each section was like a Chapter and after awhile you could hardly wait to turn the page to see what happened next. For Jacky and I on the morning of 1 January 2015 the Seoul Trail came down to 18 remaining kilometers. I can honestly say that Seoul Trail Course 4 was the toughest and the most technical of the 8 sections for us. Except for a small part the majority of it was narrow trails with plenty of rock formations, steady climbs and plenty of elevation. Add to it there was a lot of ice patches on the dark side of the mountains we had to traverse.

We had to do a lot of hiking and switching back and forth to our removable studs for our running shoes. Neither Jacky or I wanted to break our ass on this last part of the course so we definitely played it safe. There was a slip here and there but neither of us fell and we remained relatively injury free… Jacky did complain of some pain in her left calf but nothing that really limited her ability to run.It’s always a good when you start the course and after running a 100 meters or so you get your first stamp. The problem was the second stamp station was at 10 kilometers and the last one at the end of the trail at the 18 KM mark. We took a break for coffee and a quick bathroom stop at the middle. We did have difficulty once finding the path and likely gained about a kilometer trying to trace the way.

All together we spent just over 4 hours completing the course primarily because of all the ice. Still it was an awesome feeling once we got our final stamp. We sat down and took a break and finished off our coffee and snapped a couple of selfies. Then we made our way down to the Subway. I think the best part of it was coming back to the spot where we had first started the course with Appu and Terry. When we met up the first time on the 16th of November we were at the Subway exit in front of a Dunkin Doughnuts and a Krispy Kreme. Jacky and I are fans of Krispy Kreme but that morning we didn’t partake. This time however we did. It was a great feeling to finally make it back to that starting spot and getting the chance to drink a cup of hot coffee and eat a few doughnut during a cold afternoon on the 1st day of the New Year. It was great to be with the love of my life and endurance sports partner Jacky. Now the only thing left to do was get up in the morning and walk downtown to the City Hall office that issued the certificates for competing the Seoul Trail.

The next morning Jacky and I got up around 8 a.m and bundled up for about a 7 minute walk to the office near City Hall. It was the Seoul City Environmental Office. We got there just as the office was opening up at 9 a.m. and were the first folks to complete the trail in 2015. Jacky was number 341 and I was number 342. We also got a few gifts and took pictures with the Staff and took time to show them our blog.

All in all it was a great experience! I just want to thank all of the folks that were able to come out and experience it with us. It’s even better if you have friends that can share the fun and adventure with you. Seoul is a great city with plenty to offer. Running the Seoul Trail gives you an entirely new perspective of this wonderful metropolitan area. Now that we have completed the Seoul Trail Jacky and I will turn our complete attention on training for the Comrades Ultra-Marathon on 31 May 2014!

-Sam