Night running is still pretty new to me. I’ve only done a few races starting after dark. Add to that just a handful of night runs in training. In total, I’ve only run through the night maybe a dozen times.
So getting a little more experience at night could be only be helpful, right? It’d be a nice chance to test my nighttime nutrition strategy and get in some post-sunset hours on the trails. It would be good training for 9 Dragons, our upcoming race. Plus, we’d just learned about something called the Seoul Trail and a new mission beckoned…
Our route was also an opportunity to revisit a favorite place and experience it in a brand new way! We’d been eager to get back to Bukhansan at some point, and this was the perfect chance! So for this mid-January training run, we picked a 30 kilometer section of the Bukhansan Dullegil that also happened to be Seoul Trail section 8.
It wasn’t easy to get started. After an overly indulgent lunch at my favorite restaurant in Seoul, I felt really full and sleepy! Fading daylight and a heated floor beckoned. I really had to overcome the temptation to take a nap first!
Kent coaxed me out the door, and we hit the ground running. For about 3 strides! Then we had to stop for our very first stamp. I was stoked about collecting stamps on the Seoul Trail – stamp tours are always a blast (see exhibit A and exhibit B)!
Running properly, we were quickly climbing above Seoul onto the slopes of Bukhansan. The trail looked familiar, thanks to our 2016 excursions. But I had completely forgotten how many hundreds of steps there were! Just because this trail doesn’t climb any summits does not mean it’s easy. Seoul Trail section 8 turned out to be even better training for Hong Kong than I realized!
A large portion of the trail is tucked away in the forest. But there are plenty of viewpoints from which we had incredible views of Seoul’s city lights. A few stars came out above the orange urban glow. We also had a half moon to help light our way.
Overcoming my initial urge to hibernate had been my first challenge. Guessing at how to dress properly for the combination of cold and exertion was probably my second. My third challenge began almost as soon as we started to run: serious indigestion! A sloshy stomach had me reduced to eating and drinking the few things that seemed appetizing (mostly ginger jellies!).
Annoying as it was, especially during a few intervals of faster running, I was grateful for this challenge. I thought of it as a benchmark of progress. Last year, I might have stopped to wait it out. Two years ago, I might have thrown in the towel and returned to run another day. But somehow this time I knew I could handle it.
It didn’t exactly pass, but I got used to it. I focused on what I could control: my level of effort, for example. Soon, I was just enjoying the peacefulness of the forest at night.
Aside from a lone hiker that we met half an hour in, we were completely alone on Seoul Trail section 8! We saw a few owls and heard a few dogs – and that was it! It made for a really unique Bukhansan experience.
The dullegil proved to be a great choice for tough but runnable terrain. But it had its challenges: dozens of trails led up to the peaks and down into the neighborhoods surrounding the mountain. Although the trails are well sign-posted, it wasn’t always easy to find our way in the dark: we definitely did a few bonus climbs!
Plus, I wanted to climb every little lookout tower along the trail! Kent wanted to race me to each little red mailbox where we could collect our Seoul Trail stamps. Sometimes we talked about the mountains looming over us, but mostly we just ran.
This run was meant to last 4 hours and it would have been easy to stop then. But we didn’t. We had set out with the intention of finishing the Seoul Trail section 8. If we liked it, we’d be on to a brand new mission!
The next hour of our run provided all kinds of perfect temptations. There were cafes spilling warm yellow light onto empty city streets, bright markets selling fruit, countless city buses. We avoided all of them!
We made it to the end of our 30 kilometer route after just over 5 hours . Along the way, we overcame some common night running challenges. It wasn’t the longest or most challenging adventure ever, but we were proud of it! We’d put in a good block of night training.
Our final stop was at the main entrance to Dobongsan – the northernmost peak in Bukhansan National Park. So we had huge, picture-perfect maps to pose with, and best of all, a coffee machine to warm up Kent’s cold hands! After some silly celebratory shenanigans, we sped back to our warm motel room for that nap I’d been craving.
Section 8 was great training – and a great introduction to the Seoul Trail! Kent and I had officially started another new Korean quest.
Know and Go! Seoul Trail Section 8
Start Seoul Trail section 8 either at Gupabal station (orange line 3 – exit 3) in the west or Dobongsan station (dark blue line 1 or dark green line 7 – exit 1) in the northeast. If you’re planning multiple excursions to cover this section, know that the trail runs roughly parallel to the subway network around the mountain, so you can always descend into the city. The trail also naturally crosses city streets at several points (helpful for grabbing snacks and drinks).
This is the longest section of the Seoul Trail at 34.5 kilometers. It is also perhaps the most mountainous, as it runs through the foothills of Bukhansan and Dobongsan mountains. The Seoul Trail here follows the longer Bukhansan Dullegil.
There are stamp booths at six locations: (from west to east) Seonlimsa temple, Jangmi park, Hyeongjebong trailhead, Seongbuk Ecology Center, Uiryeong road and the main Dobongsan trailhead.
Click to keep reading about our Seoul Trail adventures, or head back to the Seoul Trail main page.