Laugavegur Ultra Marathon (with pictures)

Laugavegur Ultra Marathon.

The Laugavegur Ultra starts at Landmannalaugar and finishes in Þórsmörk.  For pronunciation help, the Þ is pronounced "th" as in "think".  (Turns out it's Thor's mountain range.)

The race was Saturday, July 13, 2013.  To get to the race start you only had a couple of options: bus or a 4WD.  I went by bus.  The limitations were because as soon as we turned off the main road of Iceland (which is conveniently labeled 1), we were on a gravel road.  I had read stories about Iceland's gravel roads and knew that in just a few days I'd be bicycling on them.  The first gravel road - I wouldn't have considered gravel.  More like packed dirt.  Smooth.  But then we turned from the gravel road to a gravel road labeled with an "F".  Four-wheel drive territory.  Bumpy.  Very bumpy.  Worse than Detroit's roads.  Worse than Louisiana's infamous "Substandard Roadway - Proceed With Caution." So yes - bad.

Oh, and the F roads tend to have river crossings.  No bridges.  Maybe it's deep, maybe it's not.  (Caulk the wagon and float it?)

Busses were scheduled to leave Reykjavik for Landmannalaugar at 4 in the morning of race day (race started at 9:00 am).  And then busses would take you back to Reykjavik a few hours after the race.  The organizers of the race were quite nice.  They also gave an option: if you want to arrive early or depart later, just let them know.  I chose to arrive on Friday and then stay at the finish until Monday.  The thought of riding in a bus shortly after a 55 km was not at all appealing.  Plus Þórsmörk is considered rather pretty and I thought hobbling around for a few days to take in the scenery would be nice, too.

Before the race:

Landmannalaugar.  Tent City.  Not many runners.

Most tents are for people who are planning to hike the trail.

Tent City - other direction. I eventually put up the rest of my tent.

Tent City from above.  This is the beginning of the trail.

Iceland.

F Road Fun.

Landmannalaugar.  Friday's view for my dinner.

A natural Hot Pot. I did not partake.
Rumors of "swimmer's itch."
(The tourists are supposed to clean themselves thoroughly before entering. They don't.)

Looking down a trail that's not part of the race.
(I think I'm just going to have to come back.)

During the race (different camera):

Fumaroles.  (Fun sulphur smell.)

3k into the race - looking back.
(Landmannalaugar can be seen in the background.  We climbed quite a bit.)

Looking forward.

You know what they say about the weather in Iceland...

It's true.

It's really true.

There was a wide variety of landscapes along the trail.

More.

The plus - you spend a lot of time in awe and you forget you're getting tired.

The negative - you get sloppy and put your finger into the shot.

One of the unmanned crossings.
(Two crossings were manned with rescuers in the water - in wetsuits.)

We ran on the moon.

Aid station.  With chocolate.
(Hikers can camp at this location. But they couldn't have our chocolate.)

To prove I'm extreme and cooler than you. (That was sarcasm.)
Only I don't do Facebook so I can't be that guy who puts racing photos as his profile picture.
(Even better: the guy who puts up racing photos with the copyright notice still attached.)