Ulsan District Opens Beachfront Gym at Ilsan Beach, Adds Two Visitor Challenges

Dong District in Ulsan (울산 동구) said on July 1 that it has begun full operation of the Haeparang Trail Ilsan Beach Gym, an outdoor exercise area on the sand, to coincide with the opening of the Ilsan Beach swimming season, and that it is introducing two visitor challenge programmes under the name Beach Gym Challenge.

The Haeparang Trail Ilsan Beach Gym is an open-air exercise area laid out on the sand in front of the Haeparang rest stop at Ilsan Beach, which is the end point of Course 8 and the starting point of Course 9 of the Haeparang Trail, a long-distance walking route along Korea's east coast.

The district set it up for July and August, when heat and the rainy season make walking programmes difficult to run, so that visitors can add running, CrossFit and Hyrox — a global fitness format that combines running with functional exercises — to swimming. The aim is to promote Courses 8 and 9 of the trail and to encourage visitors to stay longer.

A trial run last year drew a positive response, and this year the site has been upgraded with actual exercise equipment and a proper floor surface.

The main addition this year is a set of participation-based challenges that anyone can attempt in about five minutes.

The first, the One Pick Challenge, lets participants choose one of eight events: SkiErg, sled push, burpee broad jump, sled pull, rowing, farmer's carry, sandbag lunge and wall ball.

Each event has a set standard — 500 metres on the SkiErg or 40 wall balls, for example — and participants succeed by meeting it within a time limit. Different standards apply to adult men and to women and young people, to make the challenge easier to take on.

Participants who succeed receive a headband.

The second, the Mini Hyrox Challenge, is a fuller programme in which participants complete all eight events back to back in half-volume mini versions.

It can be attempted alone as a singles entry or as a doubles entry in which two people split the events between them, in men's, women's or mixed pairs, making it suitable for friends, couples and families.

Those who finish all eight events within the time limit for their category receive a beach towel.

The beach gym operates from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends, excluding a lunch break from noon to 1 p.m.

No membership or qualification is required. Visitors who want to take part register with the on-site manager, receive an explanation of how the challenge works and can begin immediately.

Details of the programmes and reservations are available on the Ilsan Beach Gym website (ilsanbeachgym.com) and on its Naver reservation page.

Gifts are limited in number and may run out early, and are given out once per person per day.

"We have broadened the Haeparang Trail, which used to be mainly about walking, into something people can experience physically by the sea," a Dong District official said. "We will build the beach gym into a destination where tourists and residents visiting Ilsan Beach this summer can exercise, rest and sightsee in one place and stay longer."