Turtle Marathon to be held Sunday

Celebrate "Seollal", or Lunar New Year holiday, by joining the Turtle Marathon at Mt. Nam in central Seoul, Sunday.

The Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, hosts the 414th Turtle Marathon with Nonghyup to boost consumption of "hanwoo" (native Korean beef). The monthly event has drawn more than 120,000 people since 1978.

Chae Hyung-seok, a director at Nonghup, will lead this month's walkathon. The winners of the 2011 Miss Korea pageant will join the event as well.

After the seven-kilometer walk, broadcaster Lee Sang-yong will host a draw for raffle prizes.

This month's prizes include Korean beef and duck meat gift sets as well as a voucher for a room at the Donggang Cistar resort and the Seoul Residence Hotel, newspaper subscription coupons, Merrell trekking shoes, movie tickets from Interpark, cosmetics and more.

Middle and high school students who participate in the cleanup afterwards will receive certification for two hours of volunteer work. Admission is free. For more information, visit turtle.hankooki.com.

When: Jan. 15, meet at 7:40 a.m. and the walk begins at 8 a.m.

Where: The outdoor plaza of the National Theater of Korea, near Dongguk University Station on subway line 3, exits 2 and 6.

Inquiries in English: (02) 724-2354

Inquiries in Korean: (02) 724-2611~7

Hosted by: The Hankook Ilbo

Sponsored by: The Korea Times, Sports Hankook, Seoul Economic Daily, Hankooki.com