Online registration opens for Yonhap's inaugural trail run festival in Dec.
SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- Online registration for an international trail run event to be co-hosted in December by Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's key wire service, opened Thursday.
Organizers said registration for the Yonhap News Hanam International Trail Run Festival, scheduled for Dec. 12 and 13, opened at 10 a.m. Thursday at https://yhitf.co.kr (Korean site) or https://en.yhitf.co.kr (English site). The deadline is Nov. 27, and the event is open to the first 5,000 applicants.
The festival will be held over four courses: a 5-kilometer road course (1,000 applicants), a 10km road course (2,000), a 15km trail run course (1,000) and a 28km trail run course (1,000). Hwang Young-cho, the 1992 Olympic men's marathon gold medalist, designed the courses.
In this file photo, participants, including Hwang Dae-il (4th from L), president and CEO of Yonhap News Agency, pose for a group photo during the launch ceremony for the organizing committee of the 2026 Yonhap Hanam International Trail Run Festival at Korea National Sport University in Seoul on Sept. 15, 2026. (Yonhap)
Participants must pay 30,000 won (US$22.40) for the 5km course, 50,000 won for the 10km course, 80,000 won for the 15km course and 100,000 won for the 28km course.
For the longest trail course, a 50 percent discount will be offered to the first 300 international applicants.
Trail running is a type of off-road running on mountainous, unpaved surfaces with significant elevation changes.
The running courses are set up along Misa Regatta Park, an ecological and waterfront landmark in Hanam, just east of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province. The park hosted rowing and canoeing races at the 1988 Summer Olympics. The 15km trail run course will take participants up the nearby Mount Geomdan, one of the city's most popular peaks, and the longer course will reach Namhansanseong, a UNESCO World Heritage site celebrating its 400th anniversary this year.
Hwang set up the courses with an eye on allowing runners to fully experience Hanam's natural surroundings, history and culture.
The first day of the festival on Dec. 12 will start with the 15km trail run at 10 a.m., followed by the 10km road run at 10:05 a.m. and the 5km road run at 10:10 a.m.
On Day 2, the 28km trail run starts at 9 a.m., with another 10km road run set to start at 10 p.m.
All participants will wear a timing chip.
In this file photo, Seong Seung-min of South Korea crosses the finish line during the final of the women's modern pentathlon at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games at Anjo Sports Park in Anjo, Japan, on Sept. 20, 2026. (Yonhap)
Organizers said those who finish their road runs will receive medals, while people who complete their trail runs will be awarded medals and gifts.
Runners must finish the 15km trail course within four hours and the 28km trail course within seven hours and 30 minutes.
The winner of the 28km trail run will earn 2 million won, and the 15km trail run champion will take home 1 million won.
The cash prizes are 300,000 won for the 10km winner and 200,000 won for the 5km champion.
The festival will feature elite athletes from other sports, including a pair of gold medalists from the recent Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in modern pentathlete Seong Seung-min and kurash practitioner Kim Min-young. Organizers said medalists from boxing, archery, golf and taekwondo will also be in action.
All participants will receive a running kit. The winner of a lucky draw will take home a KIA PV5 camper van.
The festival is co-hosted by Yonhap News Agency, Korea National Sport University and the Hanam city government, with support from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism -- making it the first trail run event backed by the government.
Korea National Sport University and the Korea Trail Running Association are handling event operations.
Organizers said the running festival will also feature K-culture performances and a celebration of local traditional markets.
In this file photo, South Korean Olympic marathon champion Hwang Young-cho briefs participants on trail running courses for the 2026 Yonhap Hanam International Trail Run Festival during the launch ceremony for the event's organizing committee at Korea National Sport University in Seoul on Sept. 15, 2026. (Yonhap)
"We will combine the beautiful course that connects the Han River, Mount Geomdan and Namhansanseong with K-culture shows and a traditional market festival," said Korea National Sport University Prof. Kang Kwang-bae, a former Olympic bobsledder serving as executive director of the trail run festival's organizing committee. "This will not simply be a running event. We will expand it into a global cultural and sports festival that people from all over the world visit every year."
Hwang, an adviser to the organizing committee, said Yonhap's festival will be among the last running events of the year and he is determined to make it a memorable one for all participants.
"I am doing my best to create the best stage where people can enjoy running and discover the beauty of trail running," Hwang said. "I am looking forward to seeing many runners create special moments in Hanam."
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