In 2016, we DNF-ed our first attempt at the challenging Korea 50k race. But we came back for the 2017 Korea 50k. We needed a redemption race.
The road to redemption
It was the end of 2016, and I couldn’t have been farther from Korea. Kent and I were exploring South America, with some ideas but no set plans for the future. I hadn’t been online in over a week as our travels took us to some remote places – like the Amazon rainforest!
We were spending the night in the little town of Uyuni in Bolivia, and there was a strong wifi signal. The first thing that popped up on my screen was an invitation to join the 2017 Korea 50k. It wasn’t even a question! So, we spent the night tucked up in our room, completing our registrations. It was set then: we would be back in Korea, one way or another, to run this race!
We entered the 2017 Korea 50k with over a year of experience running trails. We’d run one successful and wonderful race: Ultra Trail Mount Jiri 2016. We had trained hard with races in mind, but we’d also become even more passionate about completing big epic loops and traverses on our own. Before leaving Korea, we’d run the Bukhansan Dullegil, just for fun. And abroad, we followed up a spectacular trek around Torres Del Paine with a trail run between Mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.
When 2017 rolled around, we got back into training mode in earnest. There were salty, sweaty runs around Singapore and Malaysia in January. And when we returned to Korea in February, it was to a workplace that we’d hand-picked based on its location in the mountains of Gangwondo. We kicked things off right immediately by running an accidental ultra.
Even with all of those adventures and all that experience, the road to this ultra was not smooth. In mid-February, I sustained an injury to my groin. I’d been having some aches in the area, but one particularly icy, slippery run left me in agony and barely able to walk afterwards.
I was devastated. I tried to make a smart play by taking a few days off, but I didn’t heal. A few days turned into a week, and then weeks. I researched every stretch and strength exercise I could find and began working on it. I even went to our town track to do intervals of running and walking.
This went on for the better part of a month. Even as I made progress on the track, I was starting to think there was no way I’d be healthy enough to run an ultra. There were only a few weeks left until the race, and my long runs consisted of 4 kilometers of slow jogging and walking around the spongy surface of the track. Still, I hoped! And one sunny day in late March, we tried a trail run. It started off as a hike, but feeling good on one of my favorite mountains, I pushed the pace! And then, just like I’d never been gone, I was back on the trails!
I’d like to say I played it conservatively from there, leading up to the race. But, recalling our UTMJ success, we decided to do a little training on the Korea 50k course. Although we remembered it well from the previous year, we wanted to improve our performance on the hard parts and reload the course into muscle memory. So we spent the first weekend of April on an awesome mission, running from Dongducheon to Pocheon on the first day, and Pocheon back to Dongducheon on the second.
We also accidentally did one of the hardest bike rides of my entire life the weekend before, straight up a 1100 meter mountain! We didn’t complete a regular training cycle, so we didn’t conduct our taper regularly either!
The 2017 Korea 50k
April 22nd, 2017: This year, I felt incredibly lucky to have made it to the starting line healthy. I’d faced some dark winter days during my injury, and come out the other side to run this glorious spring race. Of course, I couldn’t completely ignore my memories of the previous year, when we’d toed this same starting line. But I didn’t want to, either. Despite our result, we’d had a great day on the trail! The 2017 Korea 50k was just going to be even better.
But not immediately! As I battled some anxiety at the starting line, Kent raced far ahead of me. My heart raced and my legs pumped, but I stayed behind. I passed people and people passed me. But Kent looked like he’d been shot out of a cannon and was flying ahead. I simply couldn’t keep up!
It was during this first section that I realized one of my major training errors. Coming back from my injury, I’d neglected to wear my hydration pack. I’d wanted to keep things as simple as possible to aid a speedy recovery. I’d forgotten just how heavy my full pack could be, and I suffered for it! I felt like I weighed a ton, and that was doubtless a factor for my ‘slow’ start.
In reality, we both blazed into the first checkpoint much faster than we’d done in 2016 or during our training session. But this hard effort at the start would take its toll on both of us. As we ran on the rolling road that comprises the second section of the race, I kept my focus on the flowers and pretty new greenery in the forest. I was distracting myself a little from the fact that I was already tired.
At the second checkpoint, we met a fellow racer and friend who unfortunately was pulling out of the race due to an injury. Again, I thanked my lucky stars that my own injury seemed healthy. Although I was tired, we were still making good time and enjoying the day. We stopped for a banana and water refill, and then hit the road again!
The climb up Wangbangsan undoes some runners who aren’t also avid hikers. South Korea’s mountains might not be tall, but they are steep. And, runners get to enjoy heading straight up this one, twice. The course rises up to the summit ridge, plunges over the opposite side nearly to the bottom, then climbs relentlessly upward again. But, this surprising steepness is something we love about the landscape here, so we embraced these climbs.
After a short celebration on the summit, we were whipping down a forest road to checkpoint three. Not only were we making great time, I felt like my energy levels were actually increasing as the race wore on! I felt very pleased when volunteers at the checkpoint said we were looking strong. I felt it!
But there was no time to waste, setting out on the biggest climb of the day. Guksabong is another steep peak. It is a long, tough climb up to the summit ridge, and then a roped-up scramble to the top from there. On top is a helipad, where soldiers cheered and greeted us. We ran down the paved road on the other side, then up again to Suwibong (a distant peak of Soyosan mountain). But shortly after that, the tough stuff was behind us. We soon emerged onto a gravel road to begin our descent towards the finish line.
It should have been smooth sailing from there. I was in great spirits, but Kent had come into some struggles. He was tired and sore. We slowed to a walk so he could take a bit of a break. He said he felt sick from the sun, which was blazing down on us now with a surprising heat. After a few jellies and a little coaxing, we continued to run. Soon, we were passing the sad place from 2016.
Once again, where the fourth checkpoint was remained a mystery. In 2016, we’d expected it a full two kilometers before we finally found its hidden location. This year, we knew we’d remember the exact place where we’d been forced to stop. And we did indeed remember, but the aid station was no longer there. Hmmmm. What else could we do but go on? We joyfully noted the moment we’d ran over the 50k mark. A kilometer later, we were walking again; thirsty, tired and sore.
Then, we found it! It was at a junction between the gravel road we’d followed up to this point and the paved road we would continue on. Some volunteers offered to spray us with ice water, and we gratefully accepted. Other volunteers helpfully refilled our water, while I enjoyed a one-minute long sit and Kent tucked in to the buffet of snacks! Getting on our way again, we only made it about one kilometer on before we realized what we didn’t do at the checkpoint! We pulled over into the bushes for a quick pit stop. No worries – I was happy to be well-hydrated enough to require one!
Time to finish the last nine kilometers! We ran past a nuclear power plant and a military base on paved road. Then we turned and found ourselves on trail once more, running across a little ridge filled with exercise stations. Below, we could both see and hear the stadium where we would soon be finishing our race! But not before a few false descents toward it and climbs up again away from it. We did a quick summit of Adeungsan before finally heading down towards the finish line of the 2017 Korea 50k.
What a glorious feeling! We cheered on other racers we saw, all of us knowing the end was in sight just ahead. We found a last little reserve of strength in our legs, and used it to sprint downhill. Reaching the track gave us another boost, and we sped around the track and across the finish line!
My memories of our finish line festivities are a little soft-focus. I was in awe of having done it, after not closing the loop the previous year. Our time, 11 hours and 3 minutes, seemed incredible to me! Not for the first time, back-burner nerves and relentless focus on the moment-to-moment tasks at hand had left me feeling a little numb during the race. But now, a flood of emotions washed over me as I collected my medal and souvenirs.
Did I stretch? Did we see anyone that we knew? It’s possible, but the only thing I remember for sure is hopping in a taxi afterwards to do some sandwich hunting. A bit of a blurry ending to a high-intensity day. But hours later, having eaten and showered, I lay in bed, unable to sleep. Adrenaline still surged through me, and behind my eyelids I was reliving all of the glorious moments of our redemption race.
Lessons Learned
This race was the perfect place for us to put into practice all that we’d learned in the previous edition. And not only did we finish, we finished super fast! We even ran the final ten extra kilometers in less than an hour. So I’d say the 2017 Korea 50k was a raging success!
‘In 2016, the Korea 50k really broke my heart. This year, we not only DID it, but we did it stronger and faster than I ever could have imagined or hoped for. WE DID IT! 59 kilometers, 3750 meters of ascent and descent, 11 hours. WOW. The days and hours before this epic thing were spent focused on the practical – my feelings never coalesced into anything describable like fear or excitement. I AM SO GRATEFUL for my body, and for this perfect spring day.’
I credit our beautiful, mountainous little hometown with helping us do some awesome trail training, right from our doorstep. We’d fallen in love with a new mountain and some rolling riverside paths! I also think our growing bank of experience helped us. More than anything, I think it was how passionate we’d become about mountain exploration. We were in the mountains as often, and for as long, as possible! And everywhere possible too!
Which is not to say there weren’t lessons to be learned. Although there were real factors (healing from injury!) that went into my decision to train really light, I definitely wouldn’t do that again. The shock of my heavy pack those first few kilometers was a great reminder to train with weight!
Also, we undoubtedly went out too fast. Or did we? Although we definitely struggled with maintaining a consistent running pace late in the race, perhaps that’s normal for this kind of tough course. I did feel tired pretty early into the race, but I recovered – really getting a second wind for the second half of the course! That speedy start must have contributed to our fast finish, right? Still, I made a mental note to try to hold a little back at the beginning on our next race.
Find out how that went in my next race: the 2017 DMZ 50k!
Interested in running this race yourself? Check out the official website of the Korea 50k!