by Mike Koeller
Iceland is an enchanting and picturesque land with its 130 volcanoes (most in the world), geysers, waterfalls, mountains, glaciers, hot springs, coastal fishing villages, challenging biking/hiking trails, the continental divide and its own vibrant, unique Icelandic culture. It is every outdoor adventurer’s dream.
The Atlantic Ocean’s gulf stream provides warmer than normal waters for Iceland’s northern latitude (60-65 degrees N) so it is not as cold as one may think, although it rarely gets beyond 15 C even in the summer. It certainly can be cold and windy in any season, but the majestic scenery is well worth it with the proper clothing. It should be on anyone’s bucket list and is relatively easy to get to with a flight time of approximately 6 hours from Hamilton/Toronto to Reykjavik, the capital city. A visitor can have a free stopover for up to 7 days on flights between North America and Europe using Play, an Icelandic low-cost airline, or Icelandair, the flag carrier of Iceland.
In September I took this opportunity to explore a small part of this beautiful island country on my way to Ireland for 48 hours and this was what I planned and experienced including running a marathon in the city, followed by driving and hiking in the southern part of the country a few hours from the capital. It was one of the best 2-day stopovers I have ever had!
For the past five years it has been a real thrill to be able to do three of my favourite activities at the same time, namely travelling around the world, running marathons and taking thousands of photographs. I am a non-competitive, multi-marathon runner who is able to see and get to know cities and places in great detail by running past many unique historic and modern landmarks, physical features and people since 42.2 kms covers a lot of ground.
I enjoy the mental exercise of planning out an interesting route in unknown places and then the physical challenge of running the route with my iPhone and a 360-degree camera in hand for dozens of dramatic photos. While this is not the way most will experience Iceland or elsewhere but here, I will provide a description of my own time there and what I was able to enjoy about Iceland in mid-September to begin my 6-week European journey.
The Play flight from Hamilton to Reykjavik left on time by 7pm at 23 degrees C and landed at 5am local time to be met with very strong, gale-like winds in 6-degree weather, feeling more like below zero. It certainly woke me up and made me wonder what I was in for. The international airport in Keflavik is approximately 50 kms from the city so one has the choice to either rent a car or take a shuttle bus for approximately C$42 (one way) or C$20 (one way) on the local bus #55.
As soon as I arrived to my accommodation for the next two days outside of the downtown, I deposited my bags and promptly began my marathon run from the east side of the city, onto a trail along Raudarvik Bay on the Atlantic Ocean, past the downtown, further north to the Grotta lighthouse, south and east again past the local airport, throughout the downtown streets and back to the ocean and the eastern suburb of Laugaras. It was a highly memorable and even a character-building experience of running through Reykjavik and its outer areas with such strong winds but beauty and interest to match.
Normally cold air would bother me, but I was well prepared with the right number of layers for running and the exhilarating oceanic experience made it more than worth it. The quality of the shoreline pathway for bikes and pedestrians called the Sculpture and Shore Walk was excellent with no vehicle interaction and a full view of the snow-covered mountains across Raudarvik Bay.
Mist and parts of the waves below the coastal barrier blew onto the pathways so you could expect to get wet from the salty sea or just move further inland. As part of this route there were several sculptures on the trail including the Recycled House which has several uniquely shaped artifacts about life in Iceland and the Viking Monument close to downtown.
Further down the pathway and into the main part of the city near the harbour, the following places I saw may be of interest to some or most travellers including the Harpa Concert Hall, whale and puffin boat tours, horse-riding tours, fish restaurants, near the Maritime Museum and the Saga Museum.
For me I kept going north of the downtown and into the suburbs which meant hugging the coastline where I met its most fierce winds and literally had to fight against them to not allow them to defeat me in completing this marathon. I was barely moving with their ferocity, but the spectacular waves made up for the physical challenge. Eventually I got to the Northern Light View Point where there is a clear view of the Grotta Island Lighthouse and it is part of its continuing trail to the Seltjorn lookout and beach with sea grass blowing in the wind.
Finally, as I crossed westward over its pathways, I reached the point where I would go south again along Seltjorn Beach and then the winds helped me significantly to assist my very tired legs under the sunny sky after more than 2 hours of fighting them.
I continued running south toward the Reykjavik Domestic Airport, past a striking sculpture known in Icelandic as Björgun úr sjávarháska (‘rescue from a sea accident’) and Nauthólsvík Geothermal Beach along the ocean until I reached Highway 40 near downtown where I was able to again see people for the first time after a few hours of fairly isolated running.
Once downtown after running uphill and through parks one stunning building is the large and modern Lutheran Church called Hallfrimskirkja, a uniquely wing-shaped structure found dominating the skyline as one of the tallest buildings in Iceland and next to the Leif Eriksson monument.
It is near to the area where tourists and locals alike enjoy shopping, eating and drinking including on Rainbow Street which was created to celebrate Pride events showing Iceland’s tribute to the LGBTQ community.
The last part of my run took me past the main streets and back to the Shoreline and Sculpture route to where I began and ended near my hostel by running through a large park with a geothermal swimming pool, gardens and a large football stadium.
It was a beautiful end to this very long, challenging and scenic run that used up all my energy and muscle power but was a wonderful way for me to see the overall city and coastline environment. Fortunately for me, due to the many marathon runs I have done, and though it may take a bit of time to recover physically from such a challenge, I was still able to venture more in the evening to have a hearty meal of fish and chips with Gull beer at the Icelandic Restaurant called Islenski Barinn in downtown Reykjavik. I walked around slowly with a proud and different perspective of the downtown after completing my 61st marathon, just 2 weeks after my previous one in tropical Philippines. I returned to the hostel by 10pm to get a long sleep and to be ready for my day trip the next day to the southern coast using a rental car from the airport.
Day 2: My Solo Drive to the Southern Coast Along the Waterfall Highway
I left at approximately 8am from my hostel in Reykjavik to the airport to get the rental car. I opted to do it this way since I knew it would be a waste to have the car sitting in a parking lot the previous day while doing the marathon run. I stopped first at Costco to get some supplies for the day before heading southward where the first item on display once inside was Kirkland Canadian Maple syrup for approximately $20. My destination was to the Gljufrabui Waterfall, Seljalandsfoss waterfall and Skogafoss waterfall, as suggested to me by the hostel manager. The 200 km. drive was on well paved, smooth highways with a speed limit of 80 km/h and through the town of Selfoss.
The journey along the way included seeing Eyjafjoll, a snow-covered mountain that is in the background for many kilometers as I made my way to the first two waterfalls: Gljufrabui and Seljalandsfoss (60m high), a short hike from each other.
The parking lot is closest to Seljalandsfoss so you will first admire this natural wonder before taking the 560m walk to Gljufrabui, another great waterfall which can only be seen by walking through a rock formation which I failed to do out of fear of getting my camera wet. I was in total awe of the size and view from the bottom of the waterfall and with little effort to get there. I truly enjoyed the experience of watching the water cascade down the cliff in huge volumes of water with the bright blue sky in the background.
My next stop to Skogafoss Waterfall, 30 km away, was along Highway 1 near the coast and included a number of beautiful mountain scenes on a picturesque stretch of the highway.
Once at Skogafoss waterfall, it involved much more physical effort by first walking to the base of it and then hiking to the top and up the river for another hour or so to see other smaller waterfalls on the same river with the ocean and other mountains in full view. Of course, it was not too easy walking up after having completed the marathon the day before but as with all the physical challenges one sometimes must take in Iceland, the reward is much greater than the pain.
As I didn’t want to drive too much in the dark, I began my journey back to Reykjavik by 6pm to allow me to easily see the scenic mountains on the way back. Along the way I continued to stop and admire the stunning background of mountains while the sun began to set. It was another purely natural and perfect day of seeing one small part of Iceland up close.
I reached the city by 8:30pm for one more meal near Rainbow Street at the local Thai restaurant for some much-needed carbs with a well-earned drink. I ate well, looked around one more time and retired early for my early morning flight to Dublin. I couldn’t think of a better way to fill up my 48-hour Icelandic experience.
