Seoul's car-free morning run goes regular from July

Seoul's morning exercise program "Swimmswimm Morning" entered regular operation this month.

The program, first launched in March at the suggestion of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, was designed to let anyone participate freely at their own pace and fitness level — whether walking, running, cycling, pushing a stroller or walking a dog — moving away from the competitive, timed format of a marathon.

Three pilot events held in the first half of the year drew a combined 25,726 participants — about 10,000 in the first session, 7,486 in the second and 8,240 in the third. Citizen satisfaction came in at 90.4 percent, with 96.1 percent saying they would take part again. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would regularize the program from July and expand venues across the city.

The first regular event took place Sunday at the Yeouido course, running from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Participants set off from the Culture Madang plaza in Yeouido Park and covered an approximately 5-kilometer round-trip route along Yeouidae-ro and across Mapo Bridge, enjoying a special morning workout in the heart of the city.

On July 19 and July 26, a downtown course will make its debut around Seoul Plaza. The roughly 2-kilometer route runs from Seoul Plaza along Sejongno to the Sungnyemun intersection.

At the venue, participants can also take part in a range of programs including a mobile fitness assessment station, a stretching zone and a photo zone. Beyond the exercise itself, attendees can measure their physical fitness and explore health programs suited to their needs.

Mayor Oh joined citizens and foreign tourists at Sunday's event, completing the full 5-kilometer round-trip course between Yeouido Park and Mapo Bridge alongside participants. He then visited the Seoul Fitness Station booth at the Culture Madang plaza, where he took part in strength tests including battle rope exercises.

"Thanks to the enthusiastic participation of citizens, Swimmswimm Morning is finally beginning to establish itself as a signature weekend morning exercise culture for Seoul," Oh said. "A city where citizens can walk, run and cycle through the heart of the city on weekend mornings — that is the healthy city Seoul aspires to be."

He added that "the first condition for becoming a global city with a high quality of life is the health of its citizens," and said the city would work toward building a Seoul where people can live long, healthy lives through what he called "iron fitness, vibrant Seoul."

About 3,800 people — including families and foreign tourists — took part in Sunday's inaugural regular event, enjoying a healthy morning in the city center in their own way: walking, running, cycling, pushing strollers or strolling with their dogs.

Swimmswimm Morning was modeled on "Car Free Morning," a weekly running event held in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Car Free Morning closes off roads in the center of Kuala Lumpur every Sunday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., allowing residents to run through the city in a sports event organized by the city government. At a meeting last December with AGIKO (Alumni Society of Korean Institutional Graduates), an association of Korean alumni who studied in Malaysia, Oh said he had gone to the area in front of the Petronas Twin Towers at 7 a.m. to see how Kuala Lumpur residents spend their Sunday mornings, adding: "The running population in Seoul has been growing lately, and I think introducing Car Free Morning would get far more citizens running in the city center."