I’d
been tossing around the idea of taking a trip to Iceland with some friends for
a little while, an epic journey that included camping, biking, and taking
several weeks to see the whole country.
We looked at several dates before realizing there would be a half
marathon there in mid-August, a time that worked with our schedules. We had to do it.
We
wrapped up our journey around the ring road (roughly 1,000 miles around the
country) ending in Reykjavik.
Reykjavik is a pretty town, and our 13.1 mile foot tour took us along
the harbor, through historic areas, and the modern waterfront fine arts
center. Although beautiful, sights
on the racecourse paled in comparison to what we’d seen in the past 10 days
(think Mars-like volcanic rock formations, green rolling hills, black sand
beaches, unbearably hot natural springs, and glacial lakes).
The
one thing that stood out during our time in Reykjavik compared to the rest of
our trip was the chance to get more of an exposure to the lifestyles of
Icelandic people (one thing to know about Iceland is that 60% of the country’s
population live near Reykjavik, with a couple exceptions, we hadn’t had the
chance to immerse ourselves to far into the Icelandic culture). The race, which included everything from
a kids 550m race to a full marathon, was a celebration of fitness and
running. After finishing the half,
we spent a couple hours at the finish line waiting for a friend to finish the
full and watching people of all ages finish races and enjoy the day (it was in
the 60s…a warm day there and a wonderful break from North Carolina’s 90+ heat).
