In the last few years, a limited number of foreign athletes were allowed to run in the marathon in Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital – the Pyongyang Marathon (see, e.g. Pyongyang Marathon – North Korea Will Allow International Runners). Things got funky though for the 2015 Pyongyang Marathon. First, foreign runners were allowed to run it. Then, seemingly suddenly, all foreign runners were banned: officials giving Ebola concerns as the reason (see, Breaking News: North Korea Bans Foreign Runners at Pyongyang Marathon). Then, officials did an about-face, and announced foreign athletes would indeed be allowed to run the Pyongyang Marathon.
Well, the marathon was this weekend, and it seemed to go off without a hitch. Here’s a video from CNN entitled Rare access inside North Korea for foreigners.
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
Did you run it?!? I was just in DPRK a few years ago so hope to visit again and run this marathon sometime in the future.
Joey, I didn’t run it. I think I’d rather visit South Korea before visiting North Korea.
Or do both in the same trip! That’s what I did a few years ago.
Its the only way to test our human endurance enhancing drugs–by seeing how well they do against a real trained outside athlete?
@ValueTraveler – ha ha. I have a friend who just ran the Pyongyang marathon. When he gets home I’d like to hear about his experience. I have a preconceived notion that its all propaganda, but I hope I’m wrong.