Over 200 foreign runners take part in Pyongyang Marathon
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E-mail CNTV, April 14, 2014
One of the most closed cities in the world has opened its gates to more than 200 foreign amateur runners, who take part in the annual Pyongyang Marathon. Running across the city has given nationals from dozens of countries, the rare opportunity to see the city up close.
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One of the most closed cities in the world has opened its gates to more than 200 foreign amateur runners, who take part in the annual Pyongyang Marathon. |
For the first time ever, Pyongyang opened up its street to foreign amateur runners. Over 200 foreigners signed up for this year's Mangyongdae Prize Marathon, an annual event named after the birthplace of the DPRK's founder, Kim Il Sung.
Fred Zalokar a 53 year old American, won the amateur full marathon. He said he felt quite excited during the race.
"You know, it was pretty exciting, I mean it was, I mean, to come out into this field, I don't know how many people are here, how many thousands, to hear them cheer, at the actual start, and then doing a four loop course was quite interesting, and there was tons of people, all ages, out there yelling and screaming, for me, and wanting to slap hands, it was really quite uplifting, I really had a very good experience," he said.
The full-marathon course started at Kim Il Sung Stadium and moved past through many broad avenues and ubiquitous buildings in the capital.
The only requirement for the runners is to finish in four hours, or they will be escorted back to the stadium. Many foreigners who joined the race say they wanted to take the opportunity to tour the city and interact with its people.
"We heard that it was going to be open for amateurs for the first time, and in our embassy we thought that was a fun idea, and also a good opportunity to get into contact with the local people here," said Jan Janowski, Second secretary of German Embassy in Pyongyang.
Many DPRK watchers are analysing whether this is a signal that the country wants to open up more to the outside world. Earlier this year, the country announced a plan to create special trade and tourism zones across the country and unveiled its first ski resort, attracting many ski enthusiasts from abroad.
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