Beyond the Race: Creating Sustainable Social, Cultural, and Economic Value in the Seoul International Marathon

Beyond the Race: Creating Sustainable Social, Cultural, and Economic Value in the Seoul International Marathon | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Beyond the Race: Creating Sustainable Social, Cultural, and Economic Value in the Seoul International Marathon Ｊａｅｅｕｎ Ｓｈｉｎ, Ｓａｎｇｈｙｕｎ Ｓｈｉｎ, Timothy Baghurst This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9062367/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study examines how the Seoul International Marathon (SIM) can be transformed from a competition‑focused road race into a sustainable sport–culture platform that integrates social, cultural, and economic value. Drawing on stakeholder theory, the study qualitatively analyzes the current status, structural challenges, and future development strategies of the SIM. Data were collected through focus group interviews with elite and masters athletes, in‑depth interviews with local government officials, sports administrators, and event organizers, as well as expert panel discussions with sport management experts and commentators. Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: enhancing participant satisfaction and awareness, restructuring event operations and governance, and revitalizing tourism and local autonomy. The findings indicate that the SIM exhibits operational gaps compared with major international marathons such as Tokyo, Boston, and Berlin in terms of service quality, elite athlete development infrastructure, tourism linkages, and stakeholder‑centered governance. In response, this study proposes a set of actionable strategies, including governance reform, improvements in service quality for both elite and recreational participants, and the strategic integration of sports tourism and destination branding. Collectively, these measures are expected to reposition the SIM as a representative urban festival that delivers integrated social, cultural, and economic benefits. Business and commerce/Business and management Social science/Business and management Humanities/Cultural and media studies Social science/Cultural and media studies Social science/Development studies Business and commerce/Economics Social science/Economics Scientific community and society/Geography Social science/Geography Social science/Politics and international relations Social science/Social policy Seoul International Marathon stakeholder theory sports governance sports tourism Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Resultsofinterviewamongstakeholders.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 12 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 12 Mar, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 11 Mar, 2026 First submitted to journal 08 Mar, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9062367","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":605052658,"identity":"8de9c7bf-6ca4-41a5-925d-0ce77df65133","order_by":0,"name":"Ｊａｅｅｕｎ Ｓｈｉｎ","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chung-Ang University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ｊａｅｅｕｎ","middleName":"","lastName":"Ｓｈｉｎ","suffix":""},{"id":605052659,"identity":"104ddf44-90b0-4ab5-8ed8-9ff8e6e8c768","order_by":1,"name":"Ｓａｎｇｈｙｕｎ Ｓｈｉｎ","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCChAqJ+n6GBGa4AGMDIS0fztgwzmwgRQvjzJY0xg0HiNUi39787DFvw2Fm4+M5xoY/2+7YNbAffsA4cw9uLQZnjpkb8+44zGZ25o1xMm/bs+QGnjQDxg3P8GiRSDCT5j1zmMfsRo7xYca2w8kMDDkMjA8O4HHY/OffpHnbDksYz8gxPvgTpIX/DX4tDDd4zCRntqUZGEjkGCcA9doxSABt2YBHi8GZnDIJYCAnSJx5VmzMc+5wApvEM4ODM/A5rP34NglgVCbwtydvlvxRdtienz/54cMefA5DB4ltQIIUDQwM9iSpHgWjYBSMghEBAKgHVv0+Qwa/AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Duksung Women's University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ｓａｎｇｈｙｕｎ","middleName":"","lastName":"Ｓｈｉｎ","suffix":""},{"id":605052660,"identity":"b2752a3e-2563-4b6a-bd41-d84eae06e74b","order_by":2,"name":"Timothy Baghurst","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Florida State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Timothy","middleName":"","lastName":"Baghurst","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-08 06:38:59","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9062367/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9062367/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104835532,"identity":"1fa28538-f72e-4409-b84d-4f8f159a4f77","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-17 17:45:37","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":428215,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"BeyondtheRace.docx3Jaeeun.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9062367/v1_covered_f7968560-2d0c-40f9-a0a2-20995ec06c33.pdf"},{"id":104829656,"identity":"50e29361-b82f-449f-8a7a-cc5e21e85851","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-17 16:14:41","extension":"docx","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":20372,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Resultsofinterviewamongstakeholders.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9062367/v1/f8b95f15877b58ff57421e85.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Beyond the Race: Creating Sustainable Social, Cultural, and Economic Value in the Seoul International Marathon","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Seoul International Marathon, stakeholder theory, sports governance, sports tourism","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9062367/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9062367/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study examines how the Seoul International Marathon (SIM) can be transformed from a competition‑focused road race into a sustainable sport\u0026ndash;culture platform that integrates social, cultural, and economic value. 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