2026 Busan50K Recap and Review

Busan50K

50.2 km | 3100m+ May 2026

Going into Busan50K, my plan was clear.

The race would not truly begin until 35 km.

The goal was to arrive there calm, controlled, and ready to race the final section strongly.

The first 10 km went almost exactly how I wanted.

I focused heavily on heart rate management. My target was to stay mostly between 140 and 160 bpm, and for much of the early race I hovered around 155–158. Effort felt controlled. I felt smooth climbing early and I was moving confidently.

At that point, I thought the race was unfolding correctly.

But somewhere between 10 and 20 km, something started changing.

Not dramatically at first.

Subtly.

I hit V2 and realized the course was slightly different from the route I had done previously. At the same time, I was thinking about creating content during the race and mentally I became attached to reaching V3 and getting the 호박빙수 there. Looking back, that detail mattered more psychologically than I realized.

Once I reached the climb around 금정산, the race became mentally messy for a moment.

I felt confused about the route and unsure where I was going. Even though other runners were nearby and moving the same direction, the uncertainty disrupted my rhythm and focus. It was not panic, but I could feel energy beginning to leak away.

From there, I kept moving forward, but I was no longer fully smooth.

I became fixated on reaching V3.

Meanwhile, the physical issues were quietly building underneath the surface.

That was probably the most important lesson from the race: the collapse started long before the visible collapse.

At first it was only small signs:

• slight tension
• heavier legs
• less fluid movement
• subtle energy loss

Then things accelerated.

My muscles became increasingly tight and tense. The calves and lower legs started locking up. Eventually I developed shin splints, something that normally does not happen to me. The final section became more about surviving than racing.

The irony is that my entire plan had been to arrive at 35 km ready to race.

Instead, I arrived at 35 km ready to survive.

That realization changed the entire meaning of the race for me.

Even so, I still finished approximately one hour faster than the previous year.

Objectively, that should have felt like a major success.

But emotionally, I was not fully satisfied.

Not because of the result itself.

Because I could feel that something larger was there.

Busan50K showed me that my aerobic fitness is probably not the problem. Earlier in the spring I ran a 3:18 marathon, and my long training efforts have consistently shown strong aerobic durability.

The issue was efficiency and energy management.

I spent too much muscular currency too early without realizing it.

The race taught me several important lessons:

• emotional pacing matters
• downhill mechanics matter
• fueling consistency matters
• tension accumulation matters
• smooth movement matters more than aggressive movement

Most importantly, Busan taught me that ultras are not won early.

They are often lost early.

The strongest runners are not always the fastest during the first hours. They are often the runners who waste the least energy before the real race begins.

That lesson completely changed how I now think about Geoje100K.

[embed]GEOJE100K 거제의 아름다운 지맥을 달리는 트레일러닝 경기로 2013년을 시작으로 2025년 12회째 개최되고 있습니다.www.geoje100k.kr