Athletics: Simon Labiche wins Suncheon half-marathon |15 October 2013

Simon Labiche is the winner of the Suncheon half-marathon raced during the weekend in South Korea.

Labiche, 43, won the event in a time of 1 hour 15 minutes 57 seconds.

In the 10km race, Keddy Moustache clocked 37 minutes 04 seconds to finish fifth, while in the 5km race Vincent Confait was eighth in 23 minutes 15 seconds.

The three athletes were chosen to compete in the 13th Suncheon marathon by the eco-friendly run committee of Seychelles and their trips have been paid by the Seychelles Tourism Board and South Korea honorary consul Mr Chong.

The 13th Suncheon Namseungryong marathon in Suncheon city, South Korea, took place on Sunday where the 2013 Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo is taking place.

The delegation was headed by Vincent Confait as coach and the Seychellois competed with some 11,544 runners – 544 in the marathon, 2,954 in the half-marathon, 3,690 in the 10km, and 4,912 in the 5km.

According to reports from South Korea, the involvement of the Seychellois delegation and their victory contributed immensely to heightening the brand of Seychelles there.

Prior to the competition, the Seychellois delegation made a courtesy call and had dinner with Cho Chung Hoon, the mayor of Suncheon city, Park Geun Won, the chairman of Suncheon Namseungryong marathon organising committee, and Song Young Soo, the chairman of Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo organising committee. They were accompanied by Dong Chang Jeong, Seychelles honorary consul general to South Korea and Julie Kim, regional manager of the Seychelles Tourist Office Korea & Japan.

The mayor and honorary consul general have agreed to further enhance the friendly cooperation and exchanges between the city of Suncheon and Seychelles in tourism, culture and sports.
The delegation also visited 2013 Suncheon Bay International Garden Expo where Seychelles’ tortoises and 253 endemic plants including the coco-de-mer are being exhibited since April 2013. The tortoises and coco-de-mer stand out to be the most popular exhibits in the expo.

The expo closes on October 20, 2013 and it exceeded its visitor target of 4 million on October 13.