I research exotic destination marathon locations in my spare time and I recently stumbled across an ad for the Masikryong Marathon [read: North Korea]. It’s an interesting idea so I did a little more research and discovered North Korea hosts two marathons for foreigners. One in Masikryong and one in Pyongyang.
North Korea is trying to lure foreign visitors by selling package deals to tourists. 2015 is the first year for the Masikryong Marathon and I couldn’t find pricing information, but the cheapest package for the Pyongyang Marathon starts at $1,000 USD for two nights. The company responsible for you says they work with eight orphanages in North Korea and each registration pays for 365 meals.
The price is not unreasonable and it’s nice the company buys meals but there are bigger moral implications that need to be considered. Every tourist who visits North Korea provides direct financial support to the regime. Some visitors argue that they act as ambassadors for the West. The idea is their presence lessens North Korean hatred for the United States. Personally, I think that’s just bulls* people tell themselves to justify their actions. I think we can assume runners will only come in contact with pre-screened North Korean elites who are not interested in a regime change and the volume is too small to have an impact.
Anyway.
The Pyongyang Marathon starts and finishes in a stadium with 50,000 people in it. That would be a memorable experience if you happen to be one of the 650 runners participating in the race. I guess it would be an interesting story, but I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable telling it.