Why Half of Seoul Suddenly Started Running

Spend a few evenings in Seoul and you'll keep seeing the same scene: twenty or thirty people in matching hi-vis vests gathering under a Han River bridge or in front of Gwanghwamun, running about 5km together, stretching, buying drinks from a convenience store, and scattering. Not a gym. A running crew — and in the last two or three years, this has become genuinely big here.

Why it happened

A few things stack up.

• Post-pandemic, everyone went outside. With indoor exercise restricted, running picked up the slack, and it didn't fade as a trend — it set as a lifestyle.
• Low-pressure social life. For Koreans in their 20s and 30s, a running crew is a way to see the same people at the same time every week without alcohol and without much money. It's less about race times than about running together and getting a drink after.
• It came out of street culture. The early crews grew out of fashion, music, and design circles, so running became a taste signal as much as exercise. Brands (Nike, Adidas, On) attaching run sessions and stores to it pushed it further.
• The city backs it. Seoul built a runner's base — lockers and showers — inside Gwanghwamun Station, one of a few subway-connected hubs. Morning programs that briefly close downtown roads to traffic ("My Pace Morning" and similar) run on a schedule.

Routes you can actually run as a visitor

Seoul is a good running city: flat along the river, well-lit, safe late at night, with water everywhere.

• The Gyeongbokgung loop. One lap around the palace walls is about 2.5km; two laps makes 5km. Good surface, and it feeds into Gwanghwamun and Seochon. One of the most-used crew routes.
• The Han River. Any park — Yeouido, Ttukseom, Banpo — has a running track separated from the bike path, running along the water. Unlimited distance, good night views. Pick a bridge, turn around there, adjust distance that way. (Related: the Han River, the way Seoul actually uses it.)
• The Namsan loop. Roughly 7–8km from Namsan Library around toward the National Theater, with real climbing, on a road closed to through traffic.
• Seochon and Cheonggyecheon. Cheonggyecheon is flat along the stream and good for short out-and-backs. The Seochon alleys are where people do GPS art runs — mapping a drawing with their route.
• The Seoul City Wall trail. Closer to trail running — steps and dirt in places — with skyline views as you go. A step up from beginner.

If you want to run with a crew

The big crews post weekly schedules on Instagram and take drop-ins. Seoul Flyers is large and among the more foreigner-friendly; SRC Seoul is one of several social-pace crews. They split into pace groups, so being slow is fine, and most are free. Before you go, check that week's Instagram post for the meeting point, time, and pace — these change often.

A Note From Daniel — our real human editor

Not everyone loves the crews. You'll hear complaints that a large group running together, talking and calling out, is loud and hard to get past if you're just out for a walk — and that's a fair complaint. If you run here, run considerately: single file where it's narrow, keep the volume down, give walkers room. For what it's worth, the Han River paths are the ones where you can run without having to think about it much — they're wide, and they're built for exactly this.

Worth knowing, fine to ignore

• Worth knowing: in summer, crews run at 8–9pm because of the heat; in winter, early evening. The start time moves with the season.
• Fine to ignore: the running fashion. Crew culture cares about kit, but nobody's looking at what a visitor is wearing. Shoes you can run in is the whole requirement.

Rae's Tip

If you only do one run here, make it a Han River evening — start from whichever park is nearest your accommodation, run to the second bridge and back, and end at a convenience store on the water with everyone else who just finished. That last part, sitting on the steps with a drink after, is the actual point of running in Seoul. The distance is negotiable; the convenience-store stop isn't.