wana race?

Lesley and I signed up for the Gyeongju Cherry Blossom half marathon, so on Friday we dragged ourself onto the train to head to the south ease region of Korea.  The morning of the race we were up at 6 to eat our breakfast, which consisted of mixing warm yoghurt in a plastic bag with cereal and bananas.  We put on our numbers and were out the door, making our way through the fog to the bus.  As we arrived at the starting line, the fog lifted, the sun came out, and we could see the Koreans starting to prepare themselves for the race (you know, stretching, warming up, smoking cigarettes).  We were just in time to put our bags down and get in line for the race.  The Korean man on the microphone was saying things, causing for people to yell and “whoop whoop” and all we could do was yell along.  Finally he said 3,2,1 and we were off with the bang of fireworks and confetti fluttering in the air around us.  The run was beautiful; I have never seen a place as pretty at Gyeongju.  We were running through green fields that were met with green hills spotted with the white and pink of the cherry blossom trees. Every road that we ran along was lined with cherry blossoms.  I was pretty much unaware that I was running until about 40 minutes into the run, I was too distracted by the beautiful scenery and the energy of the other runners.  It was by far the best run I have ever been on to this day.  Lesley and I both finished the race in 1 hour and 53 minutes. 

After we finished the race we were walking around the park just checking out the happenings, when we were invited to join a Korean group at their galbi barbeque.  So resourceful those Koreans, they really know how to do it.  So we drank Hite and ate galbi with our new Korean friends. Out of no where, one of their pals came walking up to the barbeque carrying a big blue velvet box.  Inside was a horse statue with a plaque on it, apparently he had won 2^nd place in the half marathon haha so we all cheered for him and took pictures with him.  I felt like I was in the presence of a famous person. 

The rest of the weekend was great and relaxing.  Gyeongju is known for their cherry blossoms as well as their historic sights and national parks.  For the rest of the trip Lesley and I wandered through the different parks and cherry blossom forests, enjoying the warm weather.  We found ourselves so worn out after our race, on the train home I even woke myself up from my own loud snoring.