I will never forget the moment I crossed the finish line in my first marathon.
It was a frigid March day in Seoul. For the first time, I ran non-stop for three hours and 57 minutes along the familiar streets of my home country’s capital.
As I stepped over the finish line, tears welled up in my eyes and my heart raced, even as my body came to a standstill. Grimacing in pain, I glanced at my 67-year-old dad, who had run alongside me the entire race.
It would have hardly looked like we ran the same race. Unlike me, my dad was smiling broadly. In fact, he seemed delighted to witness my struggle – the final scene from my first marathon that he got to watch from start to finish.
As you may guess from this anecdote, my father has been a runner for decades. He was part of the early wave of marathoners in Korea during the 2000s, before the sport became as popular as it is today.
My dad is hardly unique in his running community, the Bundang Marathon Club, which is filled with passionate middle-aged runners. My dad has been a member since 2008.