North Korea has held its first Pyongyang International Marathon in six years, with hundreds of runners taking it to the capital city.
Many foreign athletes arrived in the city before the race and were held on Sunday in 1912 as part of a celebration of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the nation’s founding leader.
The photo showed foreign runners crossing the starting line at Kim Il-Song Stadium taking photos with their mobile phones as North Korean audiences cheered.
Another image shows North Korea and foreign runners competing on the streets of Pyongyang, with citizens lined up on the route.
The marathon is the largest international sporting event in a hidden Asian country, offering an unusual opportunity for visitors to run through the tightly controlled capital city.
Images posted on the Instagram account of Simon Cockerell, general manager of the Corio Tour, which hosts trips for foreign amateur runners to participate, showed the crowd cheering at the time of the athlete’s death.
“Some photos of North Korea’s Pyongyang Marathon today. Amazing events and races like others,” Cocker wrote.
The final edition of the marathon took place in 2019. The following year, nuclear-armed states sealed their borders to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is a very unique experience as it provides opportunities to interact with local people,” Corio Tours said on its website. “The experience really doesn’t look like anything else.”
“North Korea is a complex and fascinating place that intrigues many people,” Cocker told Australian broadcaster SBS.
“And while certainly not for everyone, it definitely appeals to those interested in the experience of visiting such a country and seeing what they can do.”
The marathon is listed on the Global Governing Body’s World Athletics website.
In 2019, approximately 950 foreigners participated, from about 450 in the previous year. Approximately 180 runners from overseas were scheduled to participate this year.
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