The Most Restricted Starting Line on Earth: Would You Run a Marathon in North Korea?

After years of closed borders, North Korea reopened to a small number of foreign visitors.

Johan Nylander entered as one of the first in years — to run the Pyongyang Marathon.

Johan is an award-winning Asia correspondent and author whose work has appeared in CNN, National Geographic, Forbes, Nikkei Asia, and Sweden’s leading business daily Dagens Industri. He has reported from the frontlines of the US–China trade war and written bestselling books including Shenzhen Superstars, The Epic Split, and The Wolf Economy Awakens. Colleagues have described him as “a guardian of free speech” and one of the most compelling storytellers covering Asia today.

At 52, he chose one of the most restricted starting lines on Earth.

The deeper story begins earlier. After years of high-stress reporting across Asia, Johan found himself physically depleted and mentally stretched thin. Watching the Hong Kong Marathon from the sidelines — barely able to run a kilometer — he made a decision. The following year, he ran his first marathon.

Training became structure.
 Structure became momentum.

Living between the mountains of Hong Kong’s outer islands and one of the world’s densest cities, he rebuilt himself mile by mile.

Then came North Korea.

Running through Pyongyang placed him inside a rare historical moment — moving through a country defined by control, discipline, and spectacle. The experience sharpened his understanding of movement, agency, and freedom.

In this episode, we explore:

Running the Pyongyang Marathon inside North KoreaBecoming one of the first foreign visitors back in the countryStarting endurance sport in his fiftiesRebuilding resilience after burnoutCovering geopolitics while cultivating personal freedom

Johan has spent his career documenting global power.

In North Korea, he stepped onto a different kind of frontline — one measured in miles.

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