2026 Chuncheon Union Marathon, final preparations for safe race

(Chuncheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Young-seo = Ahead of the '2026 Chuncheon Union Marathon', which will be a powerful race along the Bukhangang River, preparations for the 'Safety Race', which will be responsible for the safe completion of participants, have entered the final stages.

The organizers will operate a tight safety management system, including deploying safety management personnel throughout the course, distributing ambulances, and using drones to monitor the competition situation in real time.

According to organizer The Pickt on the 29th, the focus of safety management for this competition was to minimize safety accidents that may occur throughout the entire process from start to finish.

First, safety management personnel are deployed at each major point of the course to control the entry of vehicles and bicycles and to prevent the movement paths of participants and vehicles from mixing.

In particular, safety guards will be deployed at points where general roads and bicycle paths meet or where vehicles may enter, and safety cones and safety fences will be installed in some sections to separate the movement paths between participants and vehicles.

Traffic will also be provided to ensure smooth competition and prevent safety accidents.

The organizers plan to fully or partially control major roads in the Baekyang-ri and Gangchon areas, including Elysian Gangchon, and direct vehicles to detour roads.

Control personnel will also be deployed at entrance roads and intersections connected to the course to prevent general vehicles from entering the competition section.

Be prepared for any emergency situation.

Ambulances will be distributed throughout the course to establish a response system that can quickly access the scene in the event of an injury or emergency.

In the sky, drones monitor the safety of runners.

On the day of the competition, the control center will be operated from 6:30 am to 1:00 pm, and unmanned and manned drones will be deployed to check the competition situation in real time.

We plan to divide the course into two zones to look at areas expected to be dangerous, and quickly identify the location of participants and on-site conditions in the event of an emergency.

The on-site situation captured by the drone is shared with the control center and used for rapid on-site response in the event of an accident.

Last year's competition also used a drone control system to monitor in real time the departure, fall, and emergency situations of participants, as well as the risk of contact accidents at course intersections and vehicle approaches, contributing greatly to the prevention of safety accidents.

In addition, the police, autonomous crime prevention unit, Chuncheon City Athletics Federation, and Korea Scout Federation will also assist in controlling traffic and managing the safety of participants at various points of the course and at major intersections.

Jeon Chang-dae, CEO of The Pickt, said, “The most important thing in safety management is to look at risk factors in advance and prevent accidents rather than reacting after an accident occurs,” and added, “We will do our best in safety management until the end of the race so that the participants can complete the race without an accident.”

Meanwhile, the Chuncheon United Marathon will be held on October 3rd, National Foundation Day, in the area around the Elysian Gangchon and Bukhangang River in Namsan-myeon, Chuncheon-si.

It is co-hosted by Yonhap News and the Chuncheon City Athletics Federation and co-hosted by The Pickt and the Korea Scout Federation.

The competition is held in three events: half (21 km), 10 km, and 5 km, and the half course consists of riding about 9 km on the Gyeongchun National Highway and the Bukhan Riverside bicycle path, then returning to the starting point through Baekyang-ri Station and the Gangchon area.