Korea race calendar · Seoul
JTBC Seoul Marathon
JTBC 서울마라톤
Autumn Seoul marathon, early November, Gwanghwamun Square start, Olympic Park finish.
- Race date
- Sunday, November 1, 2026 · past
- Registration window
- Registration closedApr 13, 2026 to Apr 15, 2026
- Distances
- Full · 10K
- Where
- Gwanghwamun Square (full start)
Sungnyemun on race day of the 2026 YTN Seoul Tour Marathon. The JTBC full course passes here at about 1.4 km.
JTBC Seoul Marathon 2026 Course Map & GPX Download
Loading the course map…
2026 results
The 2026 race ran on November 1 in the rain at 7 to 9°C, with about 30,000 runners on the full and the 10K. Wet roads made the elite race a fight for places rather than times, and Ethiopia's Mikiyas Barega Sirtaga beat Kenyan runners with personal bests of 2:05 and 2:06.
| Place | Runner | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Men, 1st | Mikiyas Barega Sirtaga (Ethiopia) | 2:10:00 |
| Men, 2nd | Abebaw Muniye (Ethiopia) | 2:10:08 |
| Men, 3rd | Mike Chematot (Kenya) | 2:10:28 |
| First Korean man | Hwangbo Han-bin (Korea National Sport University) | 2:16:45 |
| First Korean woman | Jung Da-eun (Samsung Electronics) | 2:33:16 |
Results as reported by the Korea Daily on race day, November 1, 2026.
Course at a glanceFull marathon
- Start
- Gwanghwamun Square, in front of Sejong Center, 07:30
- Finish
- Olympic Park
- Water
- Every 5 km
- Sports drink
- Every 5 km from 15 km
- Sponges
- Every 5 km from 7.5 km
- Snacks
- 25, 30 and 35 km
PacersFull marathon
65 pacers across start groups A to H. The small number is how many pacers run that time.
- Start group
- 2:49, 2 pacers
- Start group
- 3:00, 2 pacers
- 3:10, 2 pacers
- 3:20, 2 pacers
- Start group
- 3:00
- 3:10
- 3:20, 2 pacers
- 3:30, 5 pacers
- 3:40, 2 pacers
- Start group
- 3:40, 4 pacers
- 3:50, 4 pacers
- 4:00, 5 pacers
- Start group
- 3:50, 2 pacers
- 4:00, 2 pacers
- 4:10, 3 pacers
- 4:20, 2 pacers
- 4:30, 2 pacers
- Start group
- 4:10, 2 pacers
- 4:30, 2 pacers
- 4:50, 2 pacers
- Start group
- 4:10, 2 pacers
- 4:40, 2 pacers
- 4:50, 2 pacers
- Start group
- 4:20, 2 pacers
- 4:30, 2 pacers
- 4:40, 2 pacers
- 5:00, 4 pacers
From the organizer's pacer notice (opens in a new tab).
| Section | Closed |
|---|---|
| Start area, Gwanghwamun Square | 04:00–10:00 |
| 07:20–08:18 | |
| 07:20–08:25 | |
| 07:20–08:49 | |
| 07:25–09:56 | |
| 07:46–10:29 | |
| 07:54–11:13 | |
| 08:31–11:30 | |
| 08:38–11:39 | |
| 08:41–12:00 | |
| 08:50–12:07 | |
| 08:52–12:21 | |
| 08:57–12:35 | |
| 08:59–12:57 | |
| 09:10–13:54 | |
| Finish area, Olympic Park intersection toward Hanseong Baekje Station | 05:00–15:30 |
Course at a glance10K
- Start
- Sangam World Cup Park, World Cup Stadium intersection, 07:30
- Finish
- Yeoui-daero, by Yeouido Park
- Drinks
- One drink station, at 5 km
- Sponges, snacks
- Not listed for the 10K; see the organizer's race guide
Pacers10K
7 pacers, picked at the organizer's Gold Rush 10K, across start groups A to D. One pacer runs each time.
- Start group
- 35 min
- 40 min
- Start group
- 40 min
- 50 min
- Start group
- 50 min
- 60 min
- Start group
- 60 min
From the organizer's pacer notice (opens in a new tab).
| Section | Closed |
|---|---|
| Start area, Sangam World Cup Park and Worldcup-ro | 05:00–09:00 |
| 07:20–08:30 | |
| 07:26–08:50 | |
| 07:30–09:10 | |
| 07:30–09:30 | |
| 07:30–09:40 | |
| 06:00–10:40 | |
| Yeoui-daero, finish area to Seoul-gyo intersection | 06:00–11:00 |
The organizer says these times may change on the day.
The lead pack at km 33
I filmed this from my volunteer post near the SETEC U-turn. The elite men came through at about 09:13 in a tight pack on the wet road, with a race car right behind.
The course
The full runs from Gwanghwamun Square to Olympic Park on city roads; the 10K runs from Sangam World Cup Park to Yeouido Park. Both start at 07:30.
The full U-turns at Euljiro (km 3.9), Biudang Bridge (km 9), SETEC (km 33) and Dunchon (km 40.7), and crosses the Han once, on Jamsil Bridge (km 28). It is mostly flat; the likely rises are the Sindap underpass exit (km 19.5, amateurs only) and Jamsil Bridge.
A change on October 28 moved everything after km 10 about 2.3 km earlier. Check the notice board in race week.
Weather you should expect
Early November. Typical 6 to 12°C at start, dry.
One of the better-weather major marathons in Asia: autumn Seoul is cool, low humidity, foliage at peak. Wind is the variable.
The start area
Full runners gather on Gwanghwamun Square by 06:30 for the 07:30 start. Bag drop is on the square from 06:00 to 07:00, official race bag only; the organizer recommends dropping it by 06:30, and trucks carry it to Olympic Park for pickup after the finish.
10K bags work the same way: drop them at the Sangam start from 06:00 to 07:00 and collect them at Yeouido Park.
In past years the race started at Sangam World Cup Park, where the plaza was huge and the toilets plentiful. Gwanghwamun is the same square the Seoul Marathon (Dong-A) starts from in March.
How to register
Official site (marathon.jtbc.com)
Domestic entry opens with a lottery. For 2026 the main draw ran April 13 to 15, after a pre-draw for KB card holders. Extra rounds followed in July and August, then a final first-come round opened September 8 at 14:00.
Overseas runners enter through World's Marathons, linked from the official registration page, or the organizer's regional partners: RUNNET for Japan, AsiaYo for Taiwan and Hong Kong, and ZX-RUN for China. For 2026 World's Marathons offered the full and 10K only, and it has now closed. Overseas entrants need a valid passport to pick up the race pack.
Bib pickup
Race packs are collected in person at the KOREA RUNNING EXPO at SETEC Hall 1 (Hangnyeoul Station, Exit 1) from October 29 to 31, 2026. Hours are 12:00 to 20:00 on Thursday and Friday; on Saturday the expo runs 10:00 to 20:00 and pack collection stays open until 23:00.
Bring the QR code from your registration. Someone else can collect your pack for you, there is no courier delivery, and SETEC has no parking.
Getting there
Full: Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5) Exit 7 is closest to the start. The start and finish are on opposite sides of the city, so plan your trip home from Olympic Park.
10K: World Cup Stadium Station (Line 6), Exit 1 or 2, then a 10 to 15 minute walk. Roads along the full course close in stages from about 07:20 to 13:54, so the subway beats a taxi on race morning.
Visitor tip
Running the 10K? Haneul Park sits right next to the Sangam start, and a 30-minute easy walk there makes a good shake-out the day before. Seoul's Silver Grass Festival at Haneul Park ran October 17–23 in 2026, so race weekend comes just after it.
Running the full? An easy jog along the Cheonggyecheon stream the day before shows you the stretch the course follows from about 5 km to 13 km.
FAQ
- JTBC vs Dong-A Seoul Marathon: which should I do?
Dong-A is the bigger name with the Jamsil Stadium finish and Platinum Label status; weather is cooler.
JTBC is in better autumn weather and easier to enter. In 2026 JTBC also starts at Gwanghwamun and stays on city roads, so the two courses are more alike than they used to be. Only running one? Pick Dong-A for the prestige, JTBC for the weather.
- Is the course closed to traffic?
Yes. The full runs on closed city roads the whole way, with no cycle-path sections. Closures move along the course, from about 07:20 at Gwanghwamun to about 13:54 on the last stretch to Olympic Park, and the organizer says the times may change. The start area is closed separately from 04:00 to 10:00 and the finish area from 05:00 to 15:30.
- What's the cutoff?
Full entrants must be able to finish within 5 hours, and the slowest pacer runs for a 5-hour finish. The 10K limit is listed as 1 hour 20 minutes.
Roads reopen section by section, and runners can't continue on a stretch where traffic control has ended. Anyone who drops out rides the shuttle bus.
- Are there pacers?
Yes. The organizer's pacer notice lists 65 pacers for the full, with target times from 2:49 to 5:00 across start groups A to H, and 7 for the 10K, from 35 to 60 minutes across groups A to D. The Pacers list under the course map shows each group's times.