Competition scheduled for September 1-4; total of 100km across Gimpo,
Paju, Yeoncheon, and more

◇ The 2016 DMZ Ultra Trail Running
Competition will open its official website on May 25 and begin accepting
applications. ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News

The 2016 DMZ Ultra Trail
Running Competition co-hosted by Gyeonggi Province, Gimpo City, Paju City, and
Yeoncheon County, and supervised by the Gyeonggi Tourism Organization, will
open its official website on May 25 and begin accepting applications.  

Trail running is an outdoor
sport through which people can become one with nature on unpaved trails, mountains,
fields, and grasslands.
Recently, various
international trail running competitions such as the France Ultra-Trail du
Mont-Blanc, the 100km Ultra Train in Hong Kong, and the Trans Gran Canarias in
Spain have been gaining popularity. 

The DMZ Ultra Trail Running
Competition to be held on the Pyeonghwanuri-gil, Gyeonggi Province’s
northernmost trekking course, well begin with participants – both foreign and
professional – entering
Camp Greaves in Paju on September 1. It will then move onto Gimpo City on
September 2, Yeoncheon County on September 3, and the DMZ area in Paju City on
September 4.  

In Gimpo City, participants
will run a 37km course stretching across Daemyeonghang Port, Gimpo CC, the Munsusanseong
Fortress entrance, and Aegibong Peak. In Yeoncheon, participants will run a
50km route across the Yeoncheon Public Sports Stadium, Seongsan Mountain, Jijangbong,
Godaesan Mountain, Kkotbongsan Mountain, and the Public Sports Stadium.

Finally in Paju City, participants
will run a 13km course across Imjingak, the Unification Bridge, the Eco Museum,
60T, 64T, and the Eco Museum, returning to Imjingak.  

The competition will be
divided into two programs, one for professionals and the other for the general
public. First, foreign and professional participants will stay at Camp Greaves
inside the Civilian Control Line and run a total of `100km for three days from the
second day to the fourth day. 

General participants can run
50km of the Yeoncheon County course or 13km of the Paju City course. The 100km
course will cost KRW 300,000, the 50km course will cost KRW 50,000, and the
13km course will cost KRW 30,000. 

Apart from the competition, a celebratory
Narasarang Concert will be held at Camp Greaves in Paju on the day before the competition.
During the competition, additional events such as performances by the military
band of the Marine Corps 2nd Division and Infantry 5th Division will entertain guests.  

Additionally, foreign participants
can go on a tour of the DMZ area once the competition is complete. A wide range
of other events are scheduled as well.
Gyeonggi Province developed
the DMZ Trail Running Competition as an opportunity to promote the historical
significance and value of the DMZ among trail running enthusiasts in each
country, and to globally publicize the DMZ as a symbol of peace on the Korean Peninsula.  

A Gyeonggi Province official said, “Trail running in Korea is its infancy, but it has unlimited
potential given our country’s topography with more than
70% of our land consisting of mountain ranges.” The
official added, “In particular, the international trail
running competition last year on Jeju Island attracted more than 1,200 participants
from over 20 countries. This shows that the eyes and ears of enthusiasts
overseas are being directed towards Korea.”

Gyeonggi Province Balanced
Development Planning Assistant Governor Yoon Byeong-jib said, “If the DMZ
International Ultra Trail Running Competition takes off, it will lead to more
inbound foreign tourists. As such, it will contribute significantly to helping
stimulate overnight tourism in the border area.” Assistant
Governor Yoon continued, “We will develop various
programs involving the DMZ area, where the natural environment has been
preserved well due to restricted access, and help secure international
competitiveness in Gyeonggi Province’s tourism
capacity.”

For more details, please visit
the competition’s official website(www.dmzultratrail.com) or call the secretariat
(02-449-7352). 

ⓒ Gyeonggi G-News | Lee Mi-young misaga@naver.com  

http://gnews.gg.go.kr/news/news_detail.asp?number=201605241454585307C049&s_code=C049