After spending a week in the DPRK – North Korea, I’ve finally landed safely back in Beijing. I ran the Pyongyang Marathon (personal record – 3:36:55), visited the north side of the DMZ, and saw in person the bodies of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, among many other amazing and weird experiences. Full report During my time in the north, NBC News ran a story on the marathon, and my trip:
Pyongyang Marathon: Americans Race to Run in North Korea
BY ERIC BACULINAO
BEIJING — North Korea has frequently run Americans out of the country — but a horde of U.S. nationals are racing in. Literally. Dozens of Americans are touching down and tying up their laces to compete in the Pyongyang Marathon, brushing off any bad blood between the U.S. and North Korea in search of adventure and cultural enlightenment. It was the “forbiddenness of the whole place” that drew Jeffrey Donenfeld to sign up for the race, the frequent marathoner told NBC News.