Cheongnamdae 100km Ultra Marathon — Part 4 'Amazing People'
Cheongnamdae 100km Ultra Marathon — Part 4
'Amazing People'
I. The Thinning Crowd
For the first 10km, you run and walk surrounded by a thick crowd.
Past 20km, the crowds start to thin out.
They bunch up again going uphill, then scatter on the downhill.
By around 30km, it's just people running at a similar pace — passing each other back and forth.
That's how I arrived at the 30km checkpoint (CP — where food and water are available).
For the first 20km or so, I stayed with the four people I started with.
Jjong called out every kilometer — "1%!", and I heard him all the way up to "17%!" before he surged ahead and I couldn't hear his count anymore.
Durumi and Bravo, running quietly and steadily, also pulled ahead. Only the captain remained by my side.
The captain had his Garmin set to beep every 400 meters. At the start, he said,
"Jeong, just 250 laps around a track. That's all."
"250?,,, When is that ever going to hit zero? ㅠㅠ"
Every 400 meters, the captain would occasionally say,
"We're under 200 now. Just 200 more laps."
"For me, there are only two numbers. 1 and 2. 1 is 50km, 2 is 100km. I just want to finish number 1."
We passed 40km.
'Just a little more and number 1 is done. Please, let me at least finish the first half.'
III. The Woman Running Alone, Passing Back and Forth
From around 40km, I kept crossing paths with a woman runner — passing each other back and forth.
The captain and I alternated between running and walking, while she ran at a steady, unbroken pace. That's why we kept leapfrogging each other.
On the dark road, her lone safety light glowing behind her as she passed us — it was a beautiful sight.
After passing each other for a while, the captain casually struck up a conversation as she went by.
"Where are you from?"
"Anyang."
"Oh, we're from Anyang too! Is this your first attempt?"
"No. This is my third. I failed the first time, and the second time the race was cancelled at 50km due to cold weather. I still haven't finished one."
"I hope you make it this time."
Hearing that, I thought — her running is impressive, but her mental strength is something else entirely.
There's something runners often say to each other:
"Pushing through injury to finish is impressive,
but knowing when to quit cleanly —
that's something not everyone can do.
The courage to quit,,, that's truly remarkable."
I've been there too. I finished my first full marathon through injury, and the biggest reason I didn't quit was,,,
'What if failing the first attempt becomes a trauma,
and I never try again?
What if one quit leads to another?'
The fear of a failed first attempt runs deeper than you'd think.
Even after failing the first time,
even after the second attempt was cancelled due to bad weather,
if it were me, I probably would have thought, 'Maybe Cheongnamdae just isn't meant to be' — and never come back.
But she came back. For a third time. Leaving everything behind to try again.
I thought about how amazing that was for a long time.
Her mental strength. The way she runs. The way she keeps going, alone, in silence.
I think many of us see ourselves reflected in people like her — and that's why we keep signing up for ultras.
IV. Number 1 Is Finally Done
Lost in thought, I noticed bright lights appearing in the distance.
'That must be the 50km checkpoint.'
The goal was always 100km, but somewhere along the way, my mind had split it into two — and all I wanted was to finish number 1.
I arrived at the 50km CP. I turned to the captain and said,
"This is the hardest meal I've ever had to earn. You have to run 50km just to get fed,,, ㅎㅎㅎ"
'When your body is truly wrecked, you can't even eat. The fact that the food is going down — that's something to be grateful for.'
Every runner is different, but at the 50km CP, many people do a quick change of clothes and swap out their socks.
I put on fresh socks and changed out of my soaked long-sleeve base layer.
Past midnight, the air had turned cold, so I pulled out the windbreaker I'd packed.
Both fourth toes had massive blisters. But hey, that's nothing...
V. Just Get to the Start of Pibanryeong
On gentle slopes I managed to run; on steep ones I walked.
I'd heard that Pibanryeong was the highest pass on the course. Now that the 50km goal was done, my next target was simply reaching the base of Pibanryeong — because on that steep climb, I wouldn't need to run. I could just walk without guilt.
That was roughly the 77km mark.
I passed 60km.
Then, somewhere before 70km — "Ahhh!!" — a sharp, searing pain shot through my right foot.
'Did the blister spread across my entire sole?'
The pain was so intense that I worried the blister had burst beyond my toes and covered the whole bottom of my foot. But as I kept running and walking, it seemed to settle down.
'At least it didn't spread to the whole sole,,,'
I crossed the 70km mark.
'Just a little more to Pibanryeong,,, The uphill where I can walk without pressure. Just get there.'
To be continued in Part 5.
