Lake Myvatn Marathon

Nina says: What is very special about this Marathon is that Walk the Walk make up almost 50% of the entire field as apart from our team there are only about 40 other marathon runners taking part. I came across it by accident about 5 years ago and since then it has become one of our favourite marathons. The small number of participants is one of the reasons that make it so unique and wonderful, but also the reason that makes it so challenging. As you face the 26.2 miles and whatever the day brings, each walker has to be very self motivated to keep going without the thousands of supporters that would be found along the streets at a normal marathon.

Walk the Walkers conquer the Lake Myvatn Marathon!

We landed on a beautiful warm sunny Thursday and headed off full of excitement for our adventure. After a quick transfer we arrived at the Blue Lagoon and ‘wow’ what an experience. Bathing in the warm milky blue water, it’s true; you really can feel all your stresses melt away. Once ‘stress-free’ we headed off to the airport to catch our internal flight to Lake Myvatn.

After a good nights sleep we met our tour guide, Christina, and set off to explore Lake Myvatn. It was wonderful to listen to the history of Iceland as we drove through the mystical land. Christina gave us a real insight of what it was like to live and survive in Iceland’s extreme conditions. We also had the chance to drive around the route in preparation for the dig day! In the afternoon we headed off to Husavik and boarded our boat in search of whales……we were not disappointed. We found a family of 4 minky whales and a very suspicious sea lion.

The Big day! After having 2 days of glorious sun the weather took a turn for the worst and down came the rain. This did not dampen our spirits; we had a hearty breakfast; put our wet weather gear on and headed for the start. The views around Lake Myvatn are amazing and more than made up for the lack of sunshine. Seeing the finish line in the distance was a wonderful sight and even better – the rain had stopped!

As is the way in Iceland with everybody on board relieved and exhausted we headed straight to the nearest nature bath to let the healing waters work their wonders on some very tired and aching muscles. The next day was wonderfully warm with no wind!! The midges were out in force but everybody just sat back and enjoyed a day of travelling around this stunning part of the world …wearing a medal of course!

We also visited Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful waterfall. Dettifoss is a spectacular sight; the sheer power of the waterfall is breathtaking. It is a great opportunity to spend some quiet time soaking up the atmosphere, lost in your own thoughts. Next we went on to Hlodaklettar echo rocks and had a well deserved picnic surrounded by some of the most breathtaking scenery. We finished the day with a shopping trip in Husavik and made our way back to the hotel.