Largest participant pool on record (28,000 people, 61 countries)
This year’s Daegu Marathon will be held on April 7 (Sun) starting at 8 am at Daegu Stadium. With approximately 28,000 amateur runners from 55 countries and 160 professional marathoners from 17 countries, Daegu Marathon 2024 has set a record in terms of number of participants.
The Daegu Marathon, the only Gold Label Road Race (accreditation given by World Athletics) in Korea, will be held as such for the second consecutive year.
To become established as an event on par with the world’s six major marathons*, this year’s event was revamped significantly, such as a much larger monetary prize and more courses.
* Boston, London, New York, Berlin, Chicago, Tokyo
Regarding prize money, the Elite prize was raised from USD 40,000 to USD 160,000 to encourage athletes at the top of their game from all over the world to participate. A total of 160 elite marathoners, including nine whose time is 124~125 minutes, 67 foreign athletes, and 93 Korean athletes, will be competing for the world’s (currently) largest international marathon prize.
▲ Elite & Masters: Full course (42.195 km) and Full relay (21.0975 km)
The marathon will be an opportunity to break personal record times for foreign and Korean athletes alike, including Kaan Kigen Özbilen (Turkey; best record: 2:04:16), Sammy Kitwara (Kenya; 2:04:28), Kim Geon-oh (Korea (sponsor: KEPCO); 2:14:08), and Kim Do-yeon (Korea (sponsor: Samsung Electronics) 2:25:41), a record-setter for the Korean women’s division. For the Korean athletes, the marathon will double as a selection match for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to be held in July.
Changes have also been made to the routes and assembly point. The starting point was changed from Gukchaebosang Memorial Park to Daegu Stadium, the city’s track-and-field mecca. Furthermore, the route was re-designed to be a single lap around Daegu as opposed to a three-lap loop for two reasons: 1) to help runners not be bored by repetitive scenery and 2) to elevate Daegu’s brand value through live broadcast, which will take runners past many of the city’s major attractions.
The four Masters categories (Full course, Full relay, 10 km, Health Race) will be participated in by a total of 28,000 amateur runners. The Full course has made a comeback after a seven-year hiatus based on participants’ desire to run the same distance and route as the Elite component. The Full relay, which will be done in pairs with a partner of the participant’s choosing, is expected to add to the fun.
▲ Masters: 10 km, Health Race (4.9 km)
To make the marathon more enjoyable and promote it to a larger audience, a “market street” and food booths (e.g. tteokbokki, napjak mandu (flat dumplings), makchang (beef tripe)) will be featured by local companies on the day of the marathon at Daegu Stadium’s western plaza for participants, their families, and the general public. There will also be a kid’s marathon for children age 6 or younger and a busking stage for young Daegu-based artists and indie bands.
To minimize the inconvenience caused by the marathon for locals, Daegu Metropolitan City (DMC) and Daegu Metropolitan Policy Agency conducted multiple on-site inspections. Based on discussions on how to redirect traffic, residents were informed in advance of detour roads and where traffic will be controlled on the day of the marathon.
※ For further information on traffic-controlled areas and/or detours, please see the official website or social media channels for the Daegu Marathon (daegurace@daegurace.com).
<Traffic control times per section>
The marathon will be broadcast live nationwide/globally on April 7 from 8 am until 11 am via KBS-1TV and KBS Sports’ YouTube channel. Viewers will be able to see Daegu’s landmarks in real-time, including Suseongmot Lake, Seomun Market, and the Old Site of Samsung Trading Company.
Mayor Hong Joon-pyo said, “I hope 2024 can be remembered as the year that the Daegu Marathon grew up into a marathon of global prominence. There will be some discomfort on the day-of due to controlled traffic, but I would nevertheless like to ask all Daegu residents to cooperate with such inconvenience for the success of the marathon.”
