Super marathoner Kim Hong-yeong was presented with a commemorative medal Thursday for the amazing feat of having completed a 20,020km run through Europe, Latin America and Japan to promote the 2002 Korea Japan FIFA World Cup, begun in March 1999. Starting with a 500km trek from Seoul to Busan in March 1999, Kim's run has included 2,400km in Japan, 3,840km in South America, 1,060km in Australia and 5,815 in 24 European countries.
In the beginning of this year in January, he started running from Seogwipo World Cup Stadium in Jeju Island right after returning from overseas in December 2001, and is currently running a nationwide course of 5,400km supported by 158 domestic non-central government bodies and host cities.
Kim vividly remembers the day when large hailstones and snow pelted him while crossing the border between Austria and Germany, and running through the Alps in very heavy snowfall. The great distance was covered at an average of 40km a day for 550 days.
Kim has been given the nicknames World Cup Marathoner and World Cup Gump (from "Forest Gump") as he has promoted South Korea as the co-host of the World Cup in his self appointed role of World Cup evangelist everywhere he went. "I felt the most gratitude when I told Brazilian and Spanish people, who only knew about Japan that South Korea was also hosting the 2002 World Cup," said Kim, adding that he was happy whenever he thought he was doing something for the successful hosting of the World Cup.
His suffering from bronchitis and asthma in his 30¡¯s motivated him to start running and he became a marathoner in his 40s. He has some 300km to go before the end of his three-year old long-distance running on May 30 in front of Sangam Stadium Seoul.
(Shin Dong-heun, dhshin@chosun.com)
