The 2017 marathon season started for me on March 19th with the marathon in Seoul, South Korea.
Considering the climate in South East Asia, you can only really train for a marathon in autumn, winter or spring. This automatically means that the "right" marathon has to take place between November and March.
Of course, it's also possible to run a (trail) marathon in July in the north of China, for example in Inner Mongolia or in the mountainous western provinces of Sichuan or Yunnan. But then the necessary training can only take place very early in the morning if you live in the hot and humid south of China like me.
To avoid having to run a marathon in spring on a rather boring course like the one in QingYuan in 2016, I was looking for an alternative and found the Seoul Marathon. Although the reviews for this marathon were not only positive, I decided to register with the help of a Korean colleague. The entry fee of $50 was even relatively low.
The link to the official homepage is here: Seoul Marathon.
Update 21.03.2017:
After successfully "sightseeing" 42 kilometres through the centre of Seoul I can generally confirm what I had already read on the internet about this marathon.
Here is a short summary from my point of view:
Good (2017):
Reasonable entry fee of 50USD, start in the central square in the centre of Seoul (Gwanghwamun Gate), finish in the 1988 Olympic Stadium, plenty of refreshment stations with water and Pocari Sweat (every 5km, and stations with sponges in between), bananas and chocolate biscuits (?) from km 20, ideal running temperatures due to the time of year (6 degrees in the morning, later around 18 degrees and blue skies), fast, almost flat course (winning time 2017: 2:05:59)
Rather bad (2017):
Registration on the official website almost impossible without knowledge of Korean, announcements at the start only in Korean, very few toilets on the course (small alleyways and bushes along the course were misused as toilets), very few spectators - some more spectators from 38 km onwards, no special support at the finish, e.g. aluminium foil for keeping warm, no information on where to find the results lists and no information on where to see (or buy) photos. no information on where to find the results lists and no information on where to see (or buy) photos, possibly also interesting: very "empty" goodie bag (medal, biscuit, cake, banana, water)
Furthermore I can confirm the point often criticised on the internet that the small lorries with the clothing bags leave at 7.30am. As I was in the last starting block, I had to wait until 8.20am before I could cross the start line. At 6 degrees in the morning itt means dressing warmly and disposing of your clothes later or you have to move, move, move ...
In addition to the race number, the start package included a brochure with information about the marathon, a blue Adidas singlet shirt with "Seoul Marathon 2017" printed on it and a discount voucher for "personalised" (name) Adidas running shoes.
The course was a typical city marathon route. It went past several sights (gates). At the beginning on very wide streets, later it got a bit narrower but on most of the course there was enough space to run. The highlight was certainly the run into the (empty) Olympic Stadium.
Booking a hotel near the start line (Shilla Stay Gwanghwamun) was a good idea. The advantage was, that after dropping off my bag of clothes in the morning before the start I could walk back to the hotel (5min.) and wait for the start inside the comfortable hotel room with a warm cup of tea ..
For pictures pls. check the German verson of this post.
Used running shoe: Saucony Kinvara 7