BLOGGERAMAMANIA: Iceland Marathon 2014 Part 3

My blog on my trip to Iceland, Reykjavik and the 2014 Marathon (Part 3)

Continuing on from part 1 AND 2 of my blog on Iceland

Marathon day - 23rd August 2014

So Marathon day finally arrived. It's fair to say I was a little apprehensive as I had a bad hamstring and Solar Plexis injury to my left leg for the past 6-7 weeks which had severely curtailed my marathon training up until that point. However it had began to get better over the past 2 weeks, so I decided to chance the marathon.

Rising at 6am, I showered and had breakfast before getting ready and bringing Graham and Zoe over to get registered for the Marathon and Graham's 10k race.

Crowds gathering

Heading down into central Reykjavik, I registered, picked up my numbers and a red marathon tee shirt and proceeded to warm up. The weather was overcast and there was no breeze. This was good running weather.

Soon, they were calling everyone to the cace starting point and just after 8:40am the starting gun was fired. It took me all of 3 minutes to walk to the starting line afyer the starting gun and I could only break into a very slight jog for the next half mile, slowly speeding up as the field thinned out a bit.

Typical Reykjavik Street

The start was great. The people of Reykjavik had come out of their houses and onto the streets and were rattling pots, banging drums, ringing bells and making noise with anything they had to hand. There were saxophonists, guitarists and singers along the route. It was a great spectacle as the friendly islanders cheered us all along.

The first few miles were very easy as I worked up through the field. Ther e were people of many nationalities. I spotted Fins, Swedes, Russians, Germans, Americans, Canadians, Brits, French to name a few.

Me at the back of group

So as we jogges/ran along, we took in more Reykjavik sights (It really is a good way to see a city). We ran along the coast, through parks, over bridges, past a city farm and its a very green city, considering its Northerly Latitude.

Still Running

As the race progressed, the half marathon broke off and changed direction while we marathoners took a different direction for the second half. It was at this stage that I saw an Aussie bloke unbelievably running in Flip Flops. I was comfortable up until the 30k mark (approx 18-19 miles) when my hamstring began hurting. My old injury hadnt given up. What to do at this stage - do I keep going. or do I rest it? I decided to keep going as best I could. Its fair to say I had slowed considerably at this stage and it was obvious that some runners were beginning to pass me, however sore, I stumbled on as the finishing line grew slowly closer. Each of the 42Km was marked by a cone and I was counting every one by now...32...33...34...and so on.

Get me to the end...please.

Soon the city centre skyline was in view and this gave some extra encouragement. I jogged on and was soon on the home straight. When I seen the finishing line, I was jubilant. I crossed it, hands praying to God that I'd finished. I was greeted with my medal, some drinks and something to eat and a seat...ahhh, a seat. I had stopped running.

At Last - Crossing the finishing line.

On reflection I had finished the race..418 out of 1200. Not too bad but I was disappointed with the nagging injury and knew I could have been a lot quicker. Never mind. I soon caught up with Graham and Zoe and made my way (with sore feet) to the guesthouse where I had a nice afternoon nap.

Wearing my Medal

The Reykjavik Marathon 2014 Medal

SATURDAY EVENING

Today was also Iceland's national day. It is a day when they celebrate being Icelandic, so it was apt that we ventured into Reykjavik that evening.

Typical Reykjavik Shop

The Icelandic Alpingi (Parliament Building)

We soon found ourselves upon a nice pub/restaurant where they had some Icelandic food which after a long day's running, we scoffed.

We had a walk around town (Hobble) and there were many things happening and sights to see, Including the parliament or Alpingi which unlike our parliament, you can walk right up to and look in the windows.

Disco in Main Square

. There was a concert on the main precinct, there were DJ's in the central square and the town was thronging with people out enjoying themselves.

Not on my menu I'm happy to say.

Then we came over to the harbour area where there was a firework display due. We gathered with the crowds along the harbour front and were treated to a fantastic display of pyrotechnics with fireworks going off all around us.