Intro:

North Korea allowed foreign amateur runners to take part in its Pyongyang Marathon for the first time on Sunday (13 April).

Script:

SOUNDBITE (German) Jan Janowski, Second Secretary, German Embassy Pyongyang, participant in amateur 10km race

"We heard that it was going to be open for amateurs to take part in for the first time, and in our embassy we thought that was a fun idea, and also a good opportunity to get into contact with the local people here."

SOUNDBITE (English) Fred Zalokar, 53 years old, from Reno, Nevada, winner of amateur full marathon:

"You know, it was pretty exciting, I mean it was, I mean, to come out into this field, I don't know how many people are here, how many thousands, to hear them cheer, at the actual start, and then doing a four loop course was quite interesting, and there was tons of people, all ages, out there yelling and screaming, for me, and wanting to slap hands, it was really quite uplifting, I really had a very good experience."