Three hours by bus from Seoul, there was a triathlon race as a part of the summer festival called “Wish for Peace Festival” in Cheorwon. Cheorwon is a rice growing area. It is such an idyllic town, but there are military gates in places, and armed soldiers from the government’s military keep guard since the area is adjacent to the demilitarized zone of northern latitude of 38 degrees. Though idyllic, some part of the town also has a very grave atmosphere.

Still, the main stage of the festival, surrounded by food stalls, was busy with a lot of singing and dancing programs till late into the night. The night before the race, the fireworks woke me up around 10:30. I had been already asleep, and for a moment, I was so startled and nervous since anything could happen in a town next to the border. But then I felt like saying "please, no noise now."

A night before the race, there was a party held by the chairman of the main sponsor "Glami"; for Japanese athletes, top Korean athletes, volunteers, and sponsor corporations. First, there was a presentation about their natural tea and the good cream for burn injuries and a tour of the factory. Then we were ushered to a party room. When we were seated, there was another video presentation about the company followed by the speech of the mayor and the president of the company. After about an hour, finally, we had Korean style buffet.

Soon after the buffet, I returned to the hotel in order to participate in the race orientation. The orientation in Japanese was scheduled at 19:00 followed by another one in Korean language. There were also quite a few translators available. I was very impressed by the organizer for being so attentive to Japanese athletes, and I felt strongly that we would need to be able to deal with people from non-English speaking countries in the race held in Japan.

At 9:00 in the morning, 480 participants started the race. I was able to find a space between other athletes without difficulty, and there was not a battle from the start. The course was a triangle one with 900m, 200m and 900m. The swim course was a reservoir, and I found it easy to swim since it had no wave and no tidal current, and the water temperature was not felt cold. However, the transitional area was very muddy as it had rained heavily for two days prior to the race. (Actually it rained so much so that I thought it would never stop.)

The bike course was almost flat. It had a 10%-slope, but that was not very long. The course route went though the country view, but it also went though the gate guarded by the border security and passed by the military training sites as well. We saw not only “an idyllic view” but also grave scenery that is specific to Korea. Soldiers reacted differently to us; some cheered out loudly and others saluted. The bike course included one area that was normally a forbidden zone. At the orientation from the previous night, they jokingly explained that we should be careful in using a temporary bathroom in the area and that we should not go further into the grass since there might be land mines. That may not have been a joke. I even saw a sample of land mine next to the gate.

Even though the rule for the race was that drafting was not allowed, those who were racing alone were only a few top athletes. Most of the athletes were drafting. I even did signal taking over. I felt like shouting, “No drafting!” When I was overtaken by some groups, I made sure not to do drafting. I was biking alone as a lead, and so was the 2nd(woman) athlete. I could see that the 3rd athlete, surrounded by four or five men athletes, was closing the distance. Just past 60km point, the 2nd athlete was absorbed into the group in which the 3rd athlete was biking.
I really wanted to hold onto my lead to finish the 90km goal, and I was motivated to bike alone to the 70km point. However, soon after that, I found myself absorbed into the group behind. Even then, I run trying not to draft as much as possible. The only way to finish the course without drafting is to be the lead racer all the time. That is the importance I place on a race. With that on my mind, I almost always biked in the lead, if not completely 100%, after the 70Km point. The top three women finished the bike race at the same time.

Running route had a half point of 3.5km, and we had to run the same route three times. An American athlete and I started at the same time. On lap one, we run neck and neck and we would not allow each other to stay ahead. I tried to shake her off by going ahead on a downhill or picking up my pace on an uphill, but she still kept up with me. It seemed very hard to keep running neck and neck for the whole three laps. I really needed to pull away from her. Then, I heard her start breathing unsteadily. For one moment, I wondered if it was too soon to pick up my pace, but after all, the race was only half the ones that I normally participate, so I decided not to hold back and not to wait to pick up the pace. Soon I realized that the distance between us was widening. On lap three, I could not get the water, which slowed down my pace. I also suffered from stomachache and even nausea. Despite those incidents, I was able to stay in the lead and to cross the finish line.

“I won!” It had been a while since I won last time, so I felt so good when I held up the finish tape over my head. To be honest, I had already aimed to win before the race started, but still you never know what would happen during the race. I felt discouraged from time to time during the race, but I was able to go on thanks to the cheering by people in Cheorwon. That is the best gain for me. On reflection, I would have done it more aggressively from the start. In that sense, the race was not completely satisfactory.

I feel fortunate to be in an environment where I can race as I wish. I am very happy that I have a lot of people to support and encourage me. I left Incheon Airport, being happy and grateful again.

【Record】
Date and Time: July 27, 2008(Sun)　9:00 START
Location: CHEORWON,KOREA
Weather: Cloudy
Distance　SWIM　2km／BIKE　90km／RUN　21km
Time:　4hours 54 minutes 18seconds
（S 00:33:48／B 05:35:23／R 01:35:07）
Ranking: 1st