‘Running in 2 years’ Lee Bong-joo “I feel reborn… Wishing everyone good health” (comprehensive)

Lee Bong-joo, suffering from a rare disease, runs 1.2 km in the marathon to pray for recovery

“I’m going through a dark tunnel, but there’s hope… Next time I’ll be a pacemaker”

(Bucheon = Yonhap News) Reporter Han Nam-jik = ‘National Marathon Runner’ Lee Bong-ju (51) kept his waist down and repeated running and walking.

The distance was shortened to 1.2km instead of the 2.195km announced before the event.

However, on this day, neither speed nor distance mattered.

Fans hoped for Lee Bong-joo’s ‘Running Again’. There were also fans of Lee Bong-joo and Darlene in tears.

Bong-Ju Lee was the last runner in the ‘Lee Bong-Ju Marathon to pray for recovery’ held at the Bucheon Sports Complex in Gyeonggi-do on the 28th.

The 195 pacemakers who pre-registered were divided into 10 groups and ran a total of 40 km of 4 km each.

At the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, the twin sons of Lim Chun-ae’s three-time track and field champion, Lee Hyun-woo and Ji-woo, ran alongside Lee Bong-joo, and former world boxing champion Myung-woo Myung-woo energized Lee Bong-joo right behind him.

After running 1.2km, Lee Bong-joo took a deep breath and said, “I ran this long distance for the first time in two years since January last year, when ‘dystonia’ of unknown reason occurred. ‘It is,’ he smiled broadly.

He said, “After running a long distance in a long time, I felt pain in my back and pelvis. Still, I wanted to finish only three laps,” he added. “Thank you to everyone who ran together.”

Bong-Ju Lee has suffered from dystonia since January 2020.

He underwent surgery in June of last year and has recovered to some extent in his ‘daily life’, but he still walks with his back bent.

Fans who remember Lee Bong-joo smiling while raising his hands even after completing 42.195 km looked at him sadly.

He prayed for Lee Bong-ju’s recovery not only in the athletics world, but also everywhere.

Bong-ju Lee won a silver medal in the men’s marathon at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and was called the ‘national marathon runner’ by setting a Korean record of 2 hours 7 minutes 20 seconds at the 2000 Tokyo International Marathon in Japan. He completed a total of 41 full marathon courses during his active career.

After retiring, he appeared on TV shows and worked as an executive of the Korea Athletics Federation, and worked hard to promote Korean athletics to the public.

Now, Bong-Ju Lee is also working with ‘People who fight the disease’.

Lee Bong-joo said, “I am going through the longest and darkest tunnel in my life. But I am not losing hope. I am receiving treatment every day. Today, you have been my pacemaker, so next year I will definitely become your pacemaker.” I will,” he promised.

There are already fans who give strength to see Lee Bong-ju.

Oh Young-bok, a pacemaker from Muan-gun, Jeollanam-do, said, “I also suffer from movement disorders. Seeing Bong-joo Lee, I made a promise that I would not lose hope either.”

Lee Bong-ju said, “I will work hard for Oh Young-bok, and I will straighten my back again.” He hoped, “The most important thing in life is health. I wish everyone here good health.”

jiks79@yna.co.kr

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2021/11/28 11:58 Send