It seems that the warm air of the Atlantic jet stream hadn’t reached all pockets of Europe this summer. Despite much of the UK, Spain and France having their hottest Summer since 1976, unbelievably Iceland has had their coldest for 100 years. That didn’t deter Jan Hurt from making the trip across the Atlantic, accompanied by some of her pals from West Wight.
The 35th Reykjavik marathon festival saw 14000 Runners congregate in the city to embark on 1 of the 4 distances on offer taking the competitors on a relatively flat tour of the beautiful city and surrounding area. Luckily the sun was shining setting the tone for the day ahead.
Jan picked the 10k race, which kicked off at 9.30am on Lekjargata and took Jan south toward the coastline. A sharp turn took Jan out West before skimming alongside part of the harbour and returning back to Lekjargata.
“The atmosphere was fantastic” Jan tells me “There were lots of live bands and all the locals were standing outside their houses cheering us on. There were even children banging saucepan lids! I ran the whole way with my daughter which was nice. I really enjoyed it, it’s my first run in about 2 years”
Sounds like she had a blast. Time to enjoy the evenings “night of culture” entertainment culminating in a spectacular firework display.
“It’s a run that should be on everyone’s bucket list”
