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Published: July 24th 2014
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We landed in Reykjavik around 23:00, got our bags, bought a ticket for the bus (greyline), and then waited. There was actually quite a bit of daylight at that time. The sun was on horizon, ready to set. We had to wait long for the bus, and it was mid-night and we saw the sun set in horizon close to mid-night. Little did we know this will be the only sun and sunset we will see on the trip. Even after sunset there was twilight which lasted all night. This was interesting. The bus dropped us at campsite, and we setup camp and slept.
Day 2:
We had hostel (next door to campsite) booked for 2 nights as we wanted to relax before and after the marathon. The hostel from Hostelling International turned out to be really nice, warm and cozy and big. The first surprise was really great showers. It looked all new construction and those were the best showers I had seen. The sulphur smell that accompanies all hot showers was wierd, but tolerable once I was not worried that it will burn my skin 😊 Today was our day of relaxing as we were going to
run the half-marathon at 9:00pm. Morning was just about relaxing, then in the afternoon we went out to get some food. There was no good place nearby, most were closed. We had a terrible burrito, and then found a Indian grocery store! For evening we decided to cook. We spend rest of the afternoon looking into option for what to do later on the trip, and sleeping a bit. There was too much information at the hostel.
7:00pm
We finally decided to go, and pickup the race packet and hang out there. Sitting in the hall, just looking at the cold outside, I was quite apprehensive about weather and about finishing the race. Come 8:30, and we went outside to warm up a little. It was cold, hands almost freezing. We did a tiny warmup, and then waited for gun to go off. There were probably 300 runners for half-marathon.
9:30pm
The half-marathon starts. I was hoping for a flat course, but I was so wrong. The course though was the most beautiful I have run, so much more than Whidbey Island also. It was lined with white and lavender flowers. In the beginning we had
views of some waterfalls too. It was a cold and cloudy night, but as promised, sun did not set. I was switching between wearing the jacket and removing it when it was too warm. The surprise on the trail though were hills, there were endless rolling hills, and towards the end I felt that I won't make it. But I did somehow finished, right at the stroke of mid-night. It felt so great.
Day 3:
Today was another rest day. We had booked the hostel for one more night, so that we could relax. Back at 1:00am after the run, we tried to sleep. After getting up, we decided to go out and have a good lunch. So we walked down to the main city center. Here there were lot of food options and we had something Mediterranean. The weather was not looking so great, so we decided to postpone the hike and take a 2-day drive to the snaefells peninsula. On the way back to hostel, we dropped by a nice cafe, wanting something hot. They did not have coffee, but after running half-marathon, I was in mood to splurge. So we got a interesting looking cookie. It was yummmy! Full of seeds and chocolate, total Yum!
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Matthew
non-member comment
Hi
Thank you for your report on the half marathon. I am interested in travelling to Iceland to run it this year. Your information about the hills, weather and scenery is very much appreciated. Well done for finishing :)