The year 2017 was a big year for team KnC! In many ways, 2017 was built upon our successes in 2016. Discovering ultra running last year set the scene for us to have an amazing year on the trails this year! But in other ways, this year was a departure from the previous year. In 2016, we took a bus out of town every single weekend to climb a new mountain and finished the year with a big international trip. We stayed closer to home in 2017, taking a handful of shorter trips and focusing most on enjoying the delights of nearby natural wonders.
Top 3 overall highlights of 2017
Smitten with Seoraksan
I’ll give you three highlights, but this must come first. The year 2017 was the year of Seoraksan.
Seoraksan National Park was the main reason we wanted to move to Inje. Our prime real estate in Korea’s Gangwon province was right next door to this beloved park, and we visited every single chance we got. Our explorations were thorough: we trod every trail, dined on all the mountain vegetables and peeked into every temple. We hiked and ran in every season.
And when that wasn’t enough Seoraksan, we biked the mountain’s three passes as well!
100 kilometers
There’s another reason 2017 was such a monumental year: it was the year we ran our first 100 kilometer race! We built up to the Trans Jeju in October all year long, and were so proud of our finish. In this race, we learned what it means to suffer – but also that, with one hundred kilometers to cover, there’s more than enough time to dig deep and work it out.
Plus, we finally made it back to the summit of South Korea in Hallasan National Park!
Trips & travels
The year 2017 wasn’t just special for us – it was a golden year for everyone. This was the year of the vacation in South Korea! In a country that typically offers vacations that are rather few and far between, this was a banner year. First, there was an extended Maycation: when Children’s Day and Buddha’s birthday lined up perfectly for a week-long holiday. Then there was the serendipitous placement of holidays in October: Hangul Day came hot on the heels of National Foundation Day and Chuseok, resulting in another bonus week off!
And that’s just extra! Kent and I had four weeks of vacation on our contracts this year as well. Yep, it really was a good one, with a total of six weeks purely for adventures.
So although we did not do any long, overlanding mega trips during the year 2017, we nonetheless got to travel a lot!
Domestically too, this was a year for a great deal of adventure! We revisited our former stomping grounds in Suncheon on a couple of occasions, returned to our favorite city (golden Gyeongju!), ran with friends in Busan and Seoul and even made it out to Korea’s furthest flung islands!
Best month
August! And not just because it’s my birthday month. In fact, this is a bit of an unusual choice, considering the context! August was also an incredibly stressful month during which I injured both my foot and my thumb. But, August was truly a month of excellent adventures.
The month began in China, where we climbed our first 5000 meter peak (okay, so maybe that particular achievement is properly dated July 31st – but I’m going to count it for August anyways!). Shortly thereafter, we also ran a rugged and unrestored section of the Great Wall, which was every bit as terrifying as it was beautiful.
In the middle of the month, we finally made it to Ulleungdo and Dokdo. This was well-worth the long wait: it was one of my all-time favorite adventures in Korea, which is really saying something!
We went to Sokcho beach for our between birthdays weekend, then climbed Seoraksan’s Dinosaur Ridge on a spectacularly clear day!
October was another very strong contender for the best month category. This was the month we went to Vietnam for a week in absolute paradise AND ran our first 100k at Trans Jeju! But those adventures won other categories.
But the whole year was a highlight reel: I’ll never forget the winter wonderland that was Inje when we first arrived in January; our accidental ultra in February; the secret summits of March; our triumphant return to the Korea 50k in April; a magical week in May spent in Myanmar; meeting my namesake mountain in June; our pilgrimage to Lhasa in July; Kent’s birthday race at the DMZ in September; a few frosted runs in November and my solo Thailand trip in December. What a year!
Best race
Of course, our first 100k takes the cake! As a new race distance and only our second time atop Hallasan, the Trans Jeju 100k was an unforgettable life experience!
I’d also like to spotlight the two other races we did in 2017: the Korea 50k and the DMZ 50k.
In 2017, Korea 50k was a true triumph: after DNF-ing our first attempt in 2016, we were brokenhearted – but vowed to return. It felt so good to run this tough course strong, especially after an injury-plagued winter!
The 50k stage of the DMZ race in September was Kent’s birthday race! It was extra special because we got to climb a brand new mountain and set a new personal best at this distance! Plus, once again it felt like a major victory to me after coming back from another injury.
Best mountain(s)
Seoraksan. Simple as that! We moved to Inje to be near Seoraksan National Park, and it was a constant source of delight to us throughout the year. Living nearby, we had the unique opportunity to experience the mountain in every season! We hiked Ulsan Bawi in the spring, ran to the summit multiple times throughout the summer, were dazzled by the fall foliage that comes early to Daecheongbong and even played in the snow.
But I must mention our very own mountain in Inje, Giryeongsan. We ran on this secretive gem of a massif most days of most weeks in 2017 – and loved it every single time. We had a whole variety of routes to choose from: the climb to the summit, our speedy lovely loop and the adventures that only began after we crossed over Gwangchiryeong.
And, of course, I couldn’t help but be thrilled by our return to Bonghwasan – 2016’s best mountain – as well as our reminiscing run between Cheonggyesan and Gwanggyosan – the mountains of 2014!
Above and beyond our usual training grounds, we also explored plenty of new peaks in 2017! There was our steamy summertime climb of my nearly-namesake, Garisan. Our double adventures on Seonginbong (when the peak is so nice, you run up it twice!) on Ulleungdo rank highly. Samyeongsan, in Yanggu and with Janggu the princess pug, was another unforgettable peak. And perhaps our most epic run of the whole year was when we ran to Yanggu Bonghwasan with Jaeseung!
And that’s just in Korea! Climbing Siguniangshan’s Dafeng peak in China was a massive accomplishment and featured one of the most beautiful sunrises of my life. Later in 2017 and in Vietnam, we decided to opt out of the tourist sleepover package and climb Fansipan on our own – and it was a wild, wonderful day on the trails. Mt. Popa might not be world renowned, but we had a fun morning climbing that summit during our trip to Myanmar.
Best adventure abroad
This year, we had a glorious four adventures abroad (five, if you count the fact that we started the year living in Malaysia and making forays into Singapore on our days off!) – and I genuinely loved them all. But I’m going to hand the trophy to Vietnam.
From sneaking up to the summit of Fansipan to making a wish on the Chuseok full moon in the middle of Bai Tu Long Bay to sampling incredible vegan Vietnamese delights on the colorful streets of Hanoi…our Vietnam trip goes down as an all-time great!
This trip in October was the perfect mix, incorporating absolutely all of the adventures that I love. There were travels by train! We rented a place with a pool that came with a floaty unicorn (I know I’m a child)! I splashed in the waves on Da Nang’s beaches. We were somehow alone in exploring the ruins of My Son, and Hoi An was wonderfully whimsical and romantic. I loved every minute of this extra-special holiday!
Of course, that’s not to say the others weren’t also spectacular. I’d wanted to visit Bagan for ages. Seeing the ruins rising out of the jungle took my breath away in real life, just as it always did in documentaries.
Our whirlwind trip through China was so jam-packed with highlights, it’s hard to know where to start! I loved biking around Xi’an’s old city wall. Running on the Great Wall was unforgettable. Traveling by train to Lhasa was a dream come true, and I sampled some of the yummiest food I can remember in Chengdu.
My solo trip to Thailand was an unexpected delight that wrapped up 2017 on a high note. I did some truly awesome jungle and island hopping, some soul-filling dog-walking and cat-patting, and adored every single beach I was lucky enough to set foot on. I have to say this trip just whet my whistle for Thailand…
Best domestic adventure
Our best domestic adventure was definitely our trip to Ulleungdo and Dokdo. Accessible only by ferry, and only in good weather, it’s an achievement just to make it out there.
But once you do, you are in for a real treat! This is the very best of what South Korea has to offer.
Best animal encounter(s)
Compared to previous years, we didn’t have quite so many animal encounters this year – the grey lining to an otherwise silver year.
However, I can call out a winner: our trail friends! On various runs in Korea, we were lucky to meet some absolutely adorable domestic animals. Some standouts include the friendly cats of Cheonggyesan and Janggu, the punk pug princess who climbed Samyeongsan with us.
On our travels, we also met a few captivating creatures. In Chengdu, China, we went on a tour to see preciously pink baby pandas. Later in the year, in Thailand, I spotted wild elephants from the window of a highway bus! We also visited a couple of cat cafes during 2017.
Best person
The easiest and most consistent category! My life would be much less wonderful, adventurous and full without Kent. I’m grateful for his selfies, his culinary skills, his stamina for non-stop exploration, and most of all his hugs, every single day.
This year’s runner up is our VIP villian Jaeseung. This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of friendship, and I’m so glad that running brought us together as team KJC.
2017 by the numbers
Kilometers: 3421
2612 running, 526 biking, 270 hiking + 14 strolling
Ultras: 9
3 official ultras: Korea 50k, DMZ + Trans Jeju
1 self-supported night ultra in training: Goodnight Cassini
And 4 mountain marathons plus: the KJC new Bonghwasan adventure, a really large and lovely loop on Seoraksan and our two daredevil Daeamsan runs!
Plus our accidental ultra…
New peaks: 16!
12 of these were in Korea: Amisan, Bonghwasan (Yanggu), Daeamsan, Garisan, Geumjeongsan, Giryeongsan, Godaesan, Hanseoksan, Samyeongsan, Seonginbong, Tohamsan & Ulsan Bawi
(Not exactly new but our 10 Seoraksan outings – including 6 summits of Daecheongbong – deserve a mention here!)
4 summits were elsewhere –
1 in China: Siguniangshan – Dafeng Peak
1 in Myanmar: Mount Popa
1 in Singapore: Bukit Timah
And 1 in Vietnam: Mount Fansipan
New places: 5
China, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand & Vietnam
So there you have it: the stellar year that was 2017. Thanks for joining us on this journey. I’m grateful you’re here, and grateful for a great year. I can’t wait to see what’s coming up next for all of us!