Too many marathons? Residents, runners frustrated as officials mostly keep to the sidelines.

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Too many marathons? Residents, runners frustrated as officials mostly keep to the sidelines.

Published: 08 Jan. 2026, 07:00 Updated: 09 Jan. 2026, 11:39

LEE JIAN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Runners participate in a marathon in Daegu on April 7, 2024. [YONHAP]

Office worker Kim Yoon-jin has run four marathons since 2023. But each year, she becomes less sure if this is the best after-hours hobby.

“I love running, but lately, it feels kind of fraught with stress,” she said.

The number of registered marathon races in Korea has skyrocketed in recent years, from 19 in 2020 to 254 in 2024, a more than 13-fold increase, according to the Korean National Police Agency data. In 2025, 498 running events, including quirky running events like Disney- and superhero-themed races, were registered on the local runners’ platform Online Marathon.

The seemingly positive running boom, however, is being trailed by a wave of social blowback. With more races taking over roads and parks, frustrations are rising on all sides — from residents disrupted by closures to runners facing crowding, higher fees and uneven safety management — putting the sport’s core identity to the test: Can running remain an easy, low-barrier pastime?

A road in Mapo District, western Seoul, is closed for runners of the 2025 JTBC Marathon on Nov. 2, 2025. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The tension is most evident in Seoul, where running already struggles with weekend traffic and protest roadblocks. The number of civilian complaints tied to marathons reported to the Seoul government office, including jammed roads, unavailable public transportation, noise and loitering, rose from 15 in 2021 to 350 just from January through September of 2025.

“The bus had to skip my usual stop because of the road closures from a marathon,” reads a post on local search portal Naver in April. “Even the pedestrian walkways were partially closed, and I ended up being late to my part-time job.”

Some problems go far beyond mere inconvenience, like the 25-year-old male who died in November after being hit by a truck while running a marathon in Incheon, a major city located about 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) west-southwest of Seoul.

Over the past five years, 179 marathon-related accidents were reported to the Korean National Police Agency, with the annual total rising steadily and reaching an all-time high of 72 last year.

Marathoners are beginning their race during the 2025 Seoul Marathon in Jongno District, central Seoul on March 16. [NEWS1]

But improvements have been slow as governmental action remains perfunctory.

Under Korea's National Sports Promotion Act, the event organizer is responsible for establishing a safety management plan and conducting safety inspections for sports events with 1,000 or more participants. The average number of participants in major marathons ranges from 3,500 to 25,000.

Unlike rallies or demonstrations, marathons are treated as cultural events and are therefore not subject to police reporting requirements. Police officials say they try to minimize disruption by encouraging races to take place on weekend mornings, when traffic is lighter, and by implementing phased traffic controls by section.

Ultimately, it is local governments that approve permits, rent out public spaces and collect venue fees from private events. Seoul has reportedly collected about 1.5 billion won ($1 million) over the past five years from renting venues to private marathon organizers.

Runners are clashing together at the finishing line of the 2013 Daegu International Marathon on April 14. [JOONGANG ILBO]

There is currently no cap to the maximum number of marathons that can be held in the city, as long as a venue can be legally secured. But the city government, in a statement, argued that it reviews the marathons’ safety management plans before approving venue use, and assigns staff to be on-site on the day of the event to “reduce inconvenience to citizens and ensure safe event operations.”

“As complaints have been received over citizen inconvenience amid a recent increase in marathon events, the city is currently exploring reasonable improvement measures to develop ways to ensure safe event operations while reducing inconvenience to residents,” said an official from the city’s Tourism and Sports Bureau.

During a November press conference, Mayor Oh Se-hoon stated: “Traffic control is also under the purview of the National Police Agency, but we will coordinate closely,” stressing that organizers should be encouraged to design courses that allow for detours — and that the city needs to push that through during the consultation stage.

He also noted that many races start between 8 and 9 a.m., which can prevent some churchgoers from reaching services on time. “Going forward, for weekend events that require traffic control in the city, we will ask organizers to move the start time up by one to two hours,” he said.

The central government, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, took a meeker stance, stating it “plans to revise the National Sports Promotion Act to expand the entity responsible for managing sports events to include local governments,” and places the responsibility wholly on city-level offices.

The swelling number of runners is also impacting the athletes themselves as the once-modest sport becomes less affordable.

Entry fees for three major marathons this year - the Chuncheon Marathon, Seoul Marathon and JTBC Seoul Marathon - were all priced at 100,000 won for the full marathon and 80,000 won for the 10-kilometer race. That is more than double their 40,000 won full-marathon fees in 2014.

In 2026, the JTBC marathon announced that it would increase the participation fee to 150,000 won for the full marathon and 100,000 won for the 10-kilometer race. The fees included non-optional commemorative items such as jackets and T-shirts.

“I began running because it was simple. I wanted to do something by myself and clear my mind,” said runner Kim. “But unfortunately, it has become harder to enjoy it.”

Kim Jeong-ha, another avid runner in Seoul, said that he doesn’t mind the public's decreased accessibility to marathons, as long as “it is all worth it.”

“If the marathons can really improve their safety measures and management of the race, then I don’t care how expensive the races are,” he said. “As a person who loves running, I just want less chaos.”

BY LEE JIAN [[email protected]]