North Korean leader, Kim Jung-un has been trying to put his country on the map, in regards to sports.

According to ABC News, North Korea hosted its first international marathon on Sunday.

Runners from all over the world gathered for the annual Pyongyang marathon as tens of thousands of North Koreans applauded and cheered on the sidelines.

The race is reportedly known as the Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon and is sanctioned as a bronze-label event by the International Association of Athletics Federations. The event has been held annually for 27 years.

Organizers stated that they made the decision to allow foreign recreational runners because they wanted to hold a bigger race as part of the series of sporting competitions, arts festivals and cultural events in order to celebrate the birthday of the nation's founder Kim Il Sung.

The Guardian reports that Kim Jung-un has been attempting to keep North Korea in the news by giving sports a higher profile.

Recreational sports facilities, such as outdoor basketball courts and roller skating rinks, have been appearing in Pyongyang as well as other cities in North Korea.

The race has reportedly been opened to foreigners this year as North Korea's efforts to earn revenue by boosting tourism. Most of North Korea still remains off limits to foreigners.

Officials have stated that runners from 27 countries took part in the marathon this year, including 225 amateurs.

Although the marathon is quite a bit of news for North Korea, organizers made sure that too much attention wouldn't be taken away from the event.

Foreign runners were reportedly instructed not to carry U.S. or Japanese flags. They were also advised not to wear clothing with large writing or that was deemed inappropriately attention-grabbing or political.

News reports state that runners were also not allowed to carry cameras.

Will Erskine of Australia stated, "Basically, we just had to wear regular running clothes. Some people might have wanted to shoot pictures the whole time. But I don't think it was all that unusual. It was a good experience."