SPORTS DIPLOMACY
One of the most repressive and secretive
Regimes in the world keeps much of north Korea off-limits to visitors, but hundreds of foreigners ran free through the streets of the capital, Pyongyang, on April 13, when the country opened its 27-year-old mara-thon to amateur runners from around the world for the first time. Officials said that runners from 27 countries took part, includ-ing225 amateurs; select elite international athletes had been invited to participate in previous years.the day’s events included a half-marathon and a 10-kilometere race. North Korean man and women won the marathon, but a British amateur was the first foreigner to win the haif-marathon.