Why running the Pyongyang Marathon is more about bucket lists than politics for some foreign adventure seekers
Officially called the Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, the race became an instant hit with tourists looking to run in possibly the world’s most exotic locale when it was opened up to amateur foreign runners in 2014
Hundreds of foreigners lined up in Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung Stadium on Sunday for the city’s annual marathon, the highlight of the tourism calendar in isolated North Korea.
The 40,000-plus capacity ground was packed for the event, the crowd warmly applauding as the runners gathered on the artificial pitch, with portraits of the North’s founding father Kim Il-sung and his late son and heir Kim Jong-il smiling down benignly from the roof.
The event is part of the commemorations for the anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birth on April 15, 105 years ago, and a row of dignitaries sat in a VIP section - at least four of them in military uniform.
Nearly 2,000 people entered the event, more than half of them foreigners - mostly Europeans and other Westerners.
Later this week, North Korea is expected to open its doors to foreign journalists to further publicize the holiday and show a new residential area of Pyongyang with several high-rise apartment buildings. The country is expected to put on a major parade on April 15, and North Korea watchers are on the lookout to see if it will display its new long-range ballistic missile.
