Pyongyang
Marathon 2014
by Will Marks
When I first moved from London to
China five years ago, I hoped that
it would be the start of a time of
adventures. But never did I imagine
that I would be competing in North
Korea’s first half-marathon, running
through the streets of Pyongyang and
entering the city’s stadium in front of
70,000 cheering supporters before
being presented with a medal by the
country’s Minister of Sport.
The flight into Pyongyang was a sign
of things to come, as I boarded a
dated, Russian plane and we were
warned by flight attendants not to
take photographs. This was a recurring comment over the next few days.
Four months earler I saw on Facebook that the race was being opened
to international amateurs. The
Passengers whipped out cameras
before being sternly shouted down,
this time by soldiers.
On landing at Pyongyang airport, we
saw a collection of planes so old they
looked as though they belonged in a
museum.
ocratic People’s Republic of Korea!”
she said.
The term North Korea is never used
in North Korea, a fact overlooked by
our tour operator who had branded themselves “Experience North
Korea”. Later during the trip all their
printed posters and T-shirts were
removed by authorities.
Miss Park clarified more rules about
taking pictures before moving on to
the race briefing. It was to