Of Wedding Bells and Frozen Trails

Saturday morning and 6am found slumber rudely curtailed by the shrill report of my phone's alarm. I immediately Googled the weather and a sharp intake of breath was all I could muster as the display read -11*C. This was in Seoul too, so I could only imagine it was going to be colder out at the mountains and up on an elevated trail. But, perversely, this was what had been firing my excitement all week. No turning back now.

I gingerly left my pit (no pun intended) and started to layer-up after a quick shower. Sometimes the problem with extreme cold weather running is not so much being cold, as this is to be expected, but over compensating and being too hot. I placed trust in my judgement and hoped the technical gear I'd opted for would pull through. A first layer of compression wear would be the last line of defence in keeping the cold at bay, but also drawing sweat away from the body. The thermal layers would warm up the perspiration and then finally my Salomon soft-shell jacket would keep the wind out. With hat and gloves in place and an extra pair of socks for good luck I left the house at 6.25am to meet the three other intrepid Seoul Flyers members who'd decided to commit to this madness.

It was cold..........and I can't understate that any more or less.

The journey to Gangchon was uneventful, asides from a Korean guy who latched on to Sara Maltby and repeatedly wanted to tell her in his best pigeon English that, "I am drunken..... today coldest, today...uhhhh...coldest." Thankfully he staggered off the train a few stops before Gangchon but, quite eerily, his parting shot was, "You know 119...yes? You know?" and with that he most probably went in search of his next bottle of Soju. For those not in the know, the emergency number for Korea is 119. Interesting.

First view after getting to the station

No sooner had we all wondered if he knew something we didn't, that we arrived at the station to meet up with the rest of the crew. There were nine of us out today to tackle the 30km of trail on and around Bongwha Mountain. We were very keen to get running, more out of necessity than anything else. The first 5km found us on a steady climb, that with each bend rounded, refused to reward us with the ridge line, but invited us to grit teeth and dig in further. Did I mention it was cold? We got a reading of just shy of -13*C as we set off. Norah's frosted eye-lashes highlight this very fact, as seen in the photo. Please also note her Heterochromia Iridium, different coloured eyes in layman's terms, a la David Bowie. Cool.

Little Miss Frosty

We were soon at the top of the first big climb of three that were to present themselves on the journey. A good chance for a photo opportunity or two.

Just after the first climb of the day

We ploughed on and managed to make good time, finishing the whole trail in just short of 3 hours. Overall elevation was around 1200ft, so not too crazy, but it is a fantastic trail, with rewarding scenery, and legs that will thank us for the effort in the end. With Seoul International Marathon only a few months away, there is no better conditioning than the ups and downs of this workout. Here are a few more choice pictures from the days events. I am planning to do it again on January 9th and would recommend you SF's out there to join us in preparation for March's big race. Of course no trip to the Gangchon area would be complete without a good feed of Dakgalbi and some Makgeolli to wash away the aches of the day. Absolutely delicious. Maybe even more so when you know you deserve it.

Up in the snow line with the super-fast Katie and Norah

Cold

Rewarding scenery adds to the pleasure

Nice

Jeff's bladder problem. Leaking pack froze his leg.

The trail-runners post run, happy, and no doubt a little tired

Looking back at the mountains we had tackled

No better way to round off the run - great food and company

And then there were Wedding Bells...........................

The last time and also first time I attended a Korean wedding was that of my own. A great day of course, but no sooner had it begun that it was all over, and in somewhat of a blur. Sunday morning was welcomed under blue skies and sunny conditions for my good friend's wedding. Mr Chris Green was to marry Miss Annie Choi, and this time I could sit back, relax, and take it all in. Very enjoyable it was too. A great day all round with some great memories captured forever, no doubt for Chris and Annie but for all those in attendance too.

The bride was beautiful, as expected, Chris looked the business and took it all in his stride. It was nice to see a really great group of Seoul Flyers, the extended family, in attendance too.

The lovely bride with Minju and the smashing Jen and Jihwa

Annie with three very handsome men

The ceremony went off without a hitch and it was soon time to dive into the buffet, charge plates full of sundry items to savour and crack a bottle of Soju in celebration. Zuleika Rivera was adamant that she wanted a few Soju's and a little against my will, I did the chivalrous thing, and couldn't let her drink by herself. A true hero.
After the food was done and group photos taken it was time to go up to the roof for some traditional Korean ceremony that would see me have a part to play. As one of Chris's close mates, he did the right thing and asked me to walk in front of him as he rode a horse around the roof of the wedding hall. I of course accepted and agreed to do whatever was required. Little did I know that I would be required to 'kind of' dance to some traditional Korean drums as we went. I did my best, aided in part by the Soju that had been drunk, and I soon felt like a natural, like this was a totally normal thing to do. Here's a short clip of the frolicsome festivities that came to pass....... on a roof......with a horse.

I mean really, how normal is that!! It was a great end to the ceremony. A dedicated group of fun seekers decided to kick on to a local alehouse and shoot some pool and enjoy a beer or few. The night was rounded off nicely as the bride and groom caught up with us and a few went on to a Thai restaurant for some grub and further revelry. Here are a selection of photos from the day.
A big thank you to Chris and Annie Green for providing us with a memorable day and to all the Flyers for adding to it in their own unique way, and of course to my missus for being just ace.