Ann Bang completes another 50K

While many of us try to relax on the weekend, Ann Bang has made it a habit of pushing her physical abilities to the extreme and last weekend competed in the 9th Happy Leg Ultramarathon 50K in her home country of South Korea.

The 51-year-old Run Saipan mainstay and other ultramarathoners actually had a nightmarish start to the race as nasty weather conditions forced organizers to cancel the 9th Happy Leg Ultramarathon hours into the 50K race and opt for non-face-to-face competition.

At the time organizers pulled the plug on the 9th Happy Leg Ultramarathon 50K, Bang already ran about 10 kilometers.

“The weather was terrible. Heavy rain and a strong thunderstorm were predicted. The start time was 11pm. Unfortunately, the race was forced to stop precisely at the same time as the Munkyeong 100K Ultramarathon on June 29. Four hundred participants should run along the Han River and several streams near the course, at risk of flooding. So, the organizers decided the race should turn into a non-face-to-face event,” she said.

Under the new rules, runners could run anywhere until the next day and that’s exactly what Bang did.

“I ran on the jogging course near my house. The original course was relatively easy with flat roads, and my course was also flat and easy. The best part of my race was that there was no disturbance during the race and the worst part was that it was too boring because I had to run 50K alone.”

She finished her third 50K ultramarathon with a time of 4:52:25.

As for the training before the 9th Happy Leg Ultramarathon 50K, Bang said she always tries to join various races with trail runs every weekend.

“I want to share my accomplishments with my family and friends! I miss my group run with my friends on Saipan! There are many ways to do a long-distance run, but in my case, LSD (long slow distance) and daily jogging are the best training to enhance my strength and endurance,” she said.