An American travel influencer shared a unique experience about how spectators in North Korea showed support during a marathon in the nation known for its controversial status.
Alex Page, a US-based social media influencer, chronicles his adventures and travels across the world. One of his more extraordinary trips led him to one of the most enigmatic and isolated nations globally.
This destination was North Korea, a country operating under a communist regime since the Korean War in the 1950s, which divided the Korean Peninsula into the US-supported south and the USSR-supported north.
Although the USSR has dissolved, North Korea remains a highly secretive nation, generally closed to outsiders except through state-approved tours.
Despite travel restrictions, Alex managed to visit North Korea earlier this year, where he participated in a marathon.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Alex described the ‘crazy’ experience.
“At that time, I was in decent marathon shape,” he explained. “I honestly don’t really know how I did it. Mixing travel with actually exercising and my job of content, then all those, it’s like so hard to do at once.”
The beginning of the race was an unusual experience for Alex, who noted the start took place in a stadium with spectators ‘doing synchronized claps and chants’.
He recounted: “Then the professional North Korean runners came out all in uniform, all extremely muscular. They were almost all in flat shoes that looked pretty normal. Then they ran a 2:25 marathon time.”
Shortly after the ceremony, all the professional runners quickly disappeared from sight.
Alex also mentioned the ‘thousands and thousands’ of North Koreans present to witness the race, where he stood out as the sole American participant.
The challenges were not limited to the race itself, as getting to North Korea was a complex endeavor.
Interestingly, you cannot simply board an easyJet flight from London to Pyongyang.
The only flights to North Korea originate from China or Russia, and considering current safety issues in Russia, those wishing to visit North Korea must travel via China.
“I needed a visa to China as well, because the only flights to North Korea go from Beijing, or there’s a couple in Russia, but the only popular one is through Beijing to Pyongyang,” Alex stated.
“I needed a Chinese visa to go back from North Korea into China from there.”
Fortunately, Alex was able to enter and exit the country without incident.