In the 1936 Summer Olympic Games held in Germany, most Americans know about the Track and Field specialist Jesse Owens, a Black athlete. He won four Gold Medals in Track and Field in front of Hitler. Some say that Hitler protested and refused to greet Jesse Owens and others say that he did not. Nonetheless, Koreans know about another controversy at these Summer Olympic Games held in Germany in 1936. This controversy involved Korean Marathon Gold Metal Winner Sohn Kee-chung, who ran under the Japanese name Son Kitei. Although Korean, Sohn Kee-chung’s country of origin was recognized as Japan, because Korea was occupied by Japan at that time. (Japan lost occupation over Korea during World War II in August 1945, ending 35 years of rule over Korea).

A True Story

The Korean movie ‘Road to Boston’ is about Marathon runner Sohn Kee-chung and his fight to get a Korean representative in the Marathon in the next Summer Olympic Games after War II. The road to that goal had to go through Boston, Massachusetts, USA. This is a true story. The movie is an emotional story, with great storytelling involving the political fight necessary to accomplish this goal. The movie has great acting and a great music score. The backstory is very moving, as it highlights one of the Marathoners coached by Sohn Kee-chung for the Boston Marathon in 1947, Suh Yun-bok.

Quote: “What is the most important quality a marathoner needs to have?”, Sohn Kee-chung Nam

“Endurance”, said a Marathoner.

“The most important quality a Marathoner needs is talent.” , said Sohn Kee-chung Nam.
To get to the 1948 Summer Olympics to be held in London, Korea had to establish a record of wins in International competition. Korea had no record since its wins in the 1936 Olympics were accredited to Japan. In order to compete in the 1948 Summer Olympic Games, Korean needed an International win of some sort. 1947 Road to Boston is about this struggle.

My dad was a Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Track coach, plus a Math Teacher. He taught me the Xs and Os of these Sports. I appreciate great runners. For an actor, Im Siwan is a lovely runner and I can see why he was picked for the part of Suh Yun-bok in the movie ‘Road to Boston’ and for the TV drama ‘Run On’. Look at him run alongside world class athlete Suh Yun-bok. One of the most beautiful things to watch with runners is when they achieve flight. Both feet leave the ground. Runners say that this is the closes thing to feeling like flying. In the movie, Im Siwan runs and in periods both feet are totally off the ground. When I look at movies and dramas, I do look at how the actors run. Some get is right or come very close (Kang Ki Yong from Atypical Family, Byeon Woo-Seok from Lovely Runner). Im Siwan is the best.