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Runner hit by truck during marathon, suffers severe injuries

Published: 10 Nov. 2025, 18:19

[JOONGANG ILBO]

A runner in their 20s from the Cheongju City Hall track team is in critical condition after being struck by a truck during a marathon relay race held Monday in Okcheon County, North Chungcheong.

The accident occurred at around 10 a.m. during a relay-style marathon race in Dongi-myeon, Okcheon. An 82-year-old driver was operating a 1-ton Porter truck when he hit a 25-year-old runner from the Cheongju City Hall workplace sports team.

The runner sustained severe injuries to the head and other areas and was transported to a hospital in Daejeon. As of press time, the runner had not regained consciousness.

The event was a city-county relay marathon organized by the North Chungcheong Track and Field Federation. The three-day race began in Yeongdong and covers a total distance of 231.1 kilometers (143.6 miles) across the province.

At the time of the incident, runners were using the second lane of the road, while vehicles were restricted to the first lane under police traffic control.

However, the driver reportedly veered into the second lane in an attempt to overtake another vehicle and struck the runner, who was running in that lane. Police said the driver was neither intoxicated nor under the influence of medication at the time of the accident.

The driver told investigators, “I didn’t see the runner.”

Police are reviewing witness statements and footage from surveillance cameras to determine the exact cause of the accident.

BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]