As marathons in Seoul surged, increasing resident inconvenience from weekend morning traffic controls, noise, and trash, the Seoul city government overhauled its race operation guidelines.
According to the Seoul city government on the 18th, the city recently prepared the "Seoul city-hosted and -sponsored marathon guidelines" and notified major operators.
First, for races hosted or sponsored by the city that involve traffic control, the start time will be moved up from the previous 8–9 a.m. to before 7:30 a.m. The aim is to finish the events around 10 a.m. to reduce traffic complaints.
The city also set participant caps by venue. Gwanghwamun Plaza is limited to 15,000 people, Seoul Plaza to 12,000, Yeouido Park to 9,000, and World Cup Park to 7,000.
It also specified that alcohol brands, including non-alcoholic beverages, cannot sponsor the events, citing concerns that the symbolism of running does not align with alcohol. Until last year, various alcohol companies held events giving participants free non-alcoholic beer.
The city tightened noise control standards by penalizing future race operations if trash is not collected and by restricting the use of electronic sound equipment at start-line stage events. It also ordered that controls on access to special facilities such as hospitals and the passage of emergency vehicles be minimized.
According to the running community site "Marathon Online," 530 marathons were held in Seoul alone last year. Many days saw multiple races held simultaneously. This year, 142 marathons have already been announced for Seoul. As with last year, multiple events are expected to be held concurrently across the city in spring and fall.