Kian84 raises concerns over Seoul's marathon boom clogging weekend roads

Kian84, a webtoon artist and broadcaster known as a "running evangelist," has spoken out against the growing number of marathons held in Seoul, saying the events are snarling traffic every weekend.

On Monday, Kian84 visited actor Kwon Hwa-woon at his home for his YouTube channel "Life 84," where he said, "There are so many running events in Seoul that the roads get terribly congested on weekends."

He added that the back-to-back events could turn people off running altogether. "People might start having a negative impression of running because of it," he said.

Kwon agreed, noting that "three events are going on at the same time right now." When Kian84 said the races were "blocking off all the roads," Kwon suggested organizers focus on fewer, bigger events. "Why not just hold the major ones and concentrate on those?" he said. "The soccer World Cup isn't held every week, after all."

Kian84 introduced Kwon as "the No. 1 runner in the entertainment industry" and praised him for recently setting a personal best. Kian84 also said he runs three or four days a week and has taken to wearing running shoes all the time. "I never know when I'll run, so I started wearing running shoes everywhere — and once I put them on, they were so comfortable that these days I seem to wear them all week long," he said. He said he currently runs about 150 kilometers a month, adding, "I don't feel like I'm improving. My goal is a sub-4 — finishing a full marathon in under four hours."

As Kian84 noted, the number of marathons held in central Seoul has grown sharply in recent years. According to data obtained from the Seoul Metropolitan Government by Rep. Lee Sang-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee, the number of marathon events for which the city approved use of start and finish line locations rose from 53 in 2024 to 94 last year and 117 this year.

Events involving large-scale road closures also increased over the same period, from 16 to 31 to 37. More than 1,000 complaints related to marathon inconveniences were filed with the Seoul Metropolitan Government last year.

In January, the city issued guidelines for marathons it hosts or sponsors, requiring events that involve traffic controls to move their start times to before 7:30 a.m.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council has also moved to establish regulations. Lee Gwang-hee, a Democratic Party of Korea member of the council's transportation committee, on Monday introduced a bill that would require organizers to minimize traffic controls during rush hours and peak business hours in major commercial districts, and to notify nearby residents and merchants of scheduled events at least 14 days in advance.

Kian84 is widely credited with helping ignite Seoul's running craze after taking on the challenge of completing a full marathon on the MBC program "I Live Alone." He finished his first full marathon at the Cheongju Marathon in 2023 and has since competed in a series of overseas races on the MBC variety show "Extreme 84."