North Ultra 16mi Race Recap

Start of North Ultra in Olafsfjordur. Unfortunately 75% of the race was not nice gravel roads

Sleep deprived and sitting on a plane peeking out the window, all I can see are thick clouds. I hadn’t realized trying to sleep on a long flight with a face mask and eye mask would be like sleeping with a paper bag over my head. Before we knew it, we landed in Reykjavik at 6AM in the middle of a rain storm. Ahhh… good ole’ Iceland just like I remembered, always windy and rainy. Deep down, I was getting worried. If rain and gusty wind were going to be my race conditions tomorrow, I would be screwed. 

Steph and I drove 6 hours from Reykjavik to Siglufjordur (with many stops along the way of course- including Braud & Co, the oldest church in Iceland, and some sea monster rock). Extremely sleep deprived but excited, we had to jam out to Icelandic radio (funky rock?) because we couldn’t get our audio bluetooth to work. Good times. 

Driving the northern ring road was beautiful. Two way roads which sometimes turned into one lane to cross a bridge, and the opposite side yielding. Sometimes the road was paved and then turn into gravel. Tunnels that spanned for several miles, some even only had 1 lane so cars heading east had to pull over and yield. Once we past the West Fjords, the weather flipped and we had sunny blue skies. We arrived in Siglufjordur at 5pm to pick up my race bib at Segull Brewery where I met my friend & photographer Jordan, his wife Michelle, and their daughter. It was such a small race that I also met our race directors Gestur and Helga. It was funny to finally meet the two people I had been emailing all the way from America to ask how runnable this course even is.

We were immediately handed beers as a “welcome to Iceland”. My first instinct was, “Beers? Really? Day before a race?” Normally, I only have water and electrolytes for 10 days before a race. I was here to have fun and experience trail racing so of course I went for the beers. I also want to mention that the Icelandic people are extremely kind and welcoming to visitors. We never had an unpleasant interaction!

Photo by Jordan Rosen Photography on film

We then google mapped our Siglo Hotel. Oh wait - I can see it just around the corner. That’s the thing with small fishing towns in the North, you can get everywhere in 5 minutes. Luckily, my race didn’t start until noon on August 28th so I slept 11 hours to compensate for major jet lag. We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel buffet before Stephenie dropped me off at the race start in Olafsjordur. Trail running gets another brownie point there: a normal, full breakfast. And wow if I can sleep like that every night before a road marathon, I’d be way more relaxed.

Moving my bib to the side of my shorts, copying everyone else.

I look around trying to analyze the different runners. Mostly just comparing myself to see if I was wearing the proper outfit. I moved my bib to the side of my shorts (like everyone else did). Luckily my photographer friend Jordan calmed my nerves by telling me “yes, it’s a rough course, but you will see the most beautiful view of your life at the top.” I stood with 130 racers on the line, listening to our race director Helga give a great speech in Icelandic. As the only American, I didn’t understand a word so I prayed to god I wouldn’t end up alone and lost on this course. I tried to stay calm as the advice I was given was “if the trail disappears, just follow the pink flags” and “don’t step on that fuzzy green stuff, it’s a sponge”. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I kept thinking was I’m doing this for fun and I need to finish unscathed so I can race Chicago Marathon in 6 weeks. 

I did not edit this photo, the valley IS that green. The trail became narrower than this.

I made a vow at the start of the race that I would run ALL parts I had deemed “safe and runnable”. The first mile was on road/ gravel dirt road and I placed myself behind the lead pack of women. We crossed a rather wide cow gate which was wider than what I’ve ran in Boulder and I thought my small feet were going to fall right through the cracks. But, phew, made it through that. The first big uphill was early on and I noticed people walking (I realized later they were saving their energy) but I kept running because of what I vowed to myself. In miles 2-5, we ran on ancient sheep trail that was one foot wide (or should I say narrow) in the most beautiful green valley with a stream running near by. What is an ancient sheep trail, one might ask? It’s a trail created by sheep for hundreds of years. In mile 4, I took my first fall in mud that I couldn’t see underneath the grass and fell on my right side. I thought “damn.. It’s too early for me to be falling in mud.” I got up and ran the whole uphill section thinking to myself that this wasn’t too bad. 

I spy tiny people on the right running.

I reached the pass at mile 6 and ran into a lot of difficulty with the terrain. I wasn’t trained to run rocky descents and watched about 20 Icelandics blast it past me down the hill. The trail started to wind and disappear through the pass and I continued to follow the pink flags. Luckily, I was never in the position where I couldn’t see someone in front or behind me. I crossed my first snow patch and even took a selfie on it because (at the time), I thought this was extremely badass. Luckily, living and training in Boulder, CO for 2 years… I’ve had a lot of practice with snow and sleet. I started walking the downhills that were rocky or loose gravel because deep in the back of my mind was “I can’t start my vacation in Iceland with a sprained ankle” and “I need to toe the line at Chicago Marathon”.

In the next few miles, I experienced powerful winds unlike anywhere else. Wind that wasn’t constant, but came in bursts. I thought for sure I’d take my jacket off, but decided to keep it on the entire race because the conditions kept fluctuating. I felt pain in my left heel as a blister started to develop. My shoes got wet early on from falling in mud. Then, I was in for a treat. I didn’t have just 1 snow patch, I had almost 8 or 10. By the time I had crossed 5, I was so done with running over them. The snow was melting so there were areas of the snow patch that were slippery ice. The snow also produced significant streams we had to cross. Every time my shoes seemed to dry, it got soaked again in very cold glacier water. There was also this fuzzy neon green moss that grows next to the streams. My instinct is to run on it, until I found out that stepping on it is WORSE than just getting my shoes soaked. The moss was like a slippery sponge and I soon deemed it deadly. There was one particular snow patch sloped on a hill with a steep fall. I was scared. Luckily, an Icelandic women grabbed my arm and ran across it with me. I wish I knew her name because she helped me SO much!

I did not edit this photo. This is a breath taking fjord.

At about mile 8, I came across the most beautiful view I had ever seen (just as Jordan had promised). The thing about this race is - I wanted to stop and take a picture of everything. The majestic views of Iceland was extremely distracting to me. But no! This was a race so my instinct was to keep moving. There was one final steep hill up to the pass where everyone walked passed the aid station. One more snow patch. Another steep climb on hands and knees and I pulled myself over the crack to get over the pass. I could see the valley heading into Siglufjordur.

One last snow patch, right up to the pass!

I thought the wind was bad going up the pass since I was going against it, but it was actually worse coming back down against my back. It was so strong that it pushed me around to the point where I didn’t know where my feet would land. The descent was rocky with larger lava type rocks. We ran right next to a stream with tall grass. Beware though - the tall grass looks pretty, but it was treacherous as I couldn’t see anything underneath. Because of all the glacier melt, the valley has many cracks in the ground with mini streams and mud. This part of the course, I felt like I was steeplechasing over muddy streams. Even more difficult was the rolling nature of this part of the course. Running down a hill, steeple jumping a muddy stream in the middle, to land on the other side and running uphill was the new name of the game. It was this x10, with gnats in my face.

I finally reached an opening clearing. Deep breath…thank god… I had survived the valley, which was more like marshlands. Oh and one more surprise… you need to cross a 2 foot deep river before you can run on the good stuff (roads). I crossed the river with significant hesitancy (I couldn’t tell which rocks were best to step on). Took my second fall here. Got back up and phew - survived the river.

Smiling… but deep down thinking “fuck this is cold”

At this point, it was flat gravel and road all the way back to the finish. It was game on. I didn’t care that my shoes were extremely soaked and my feet were cold. I actually had a lot of pent up energy from having to run/hike so many sections of the pass. I wanted to get a workout and see how fast I could run the last stretch. I started running marathon pace and it felt good!! I also passed a significant amount of people on this stretch. All of whom, I said “good job” too, but I assume they didn’t understand me (language barrier).

With just a half mile to go, the residents of Siglufjordur lined the streets to cheer for us. They must have thought I was strange, for probably having the fastest splits coming home on the roads. Perhaps, this girl was not trying on earlier? I finished the race in 3:50, just under my goal of 4 hours!! I was so proud of myself. For one, I didn’t sprain an ankle and two, just surviving. My first words were, “wtfuck, are ALL trail races like this? Because that was a spartan.”

I am so glad I did not preview this course prior to race day. If I had known what the terrain would include, I probably would not have done it. However, I have no regrets. This was a once in a lifetime experience and was the highlight of my trip. The Trollaskagi Peninsula is an area of few international travelers and it seems to be one of the most underrated places in Iceland. It allows the opportunity to experience Iceland off the beaten path. I am so grateful that this race brought me here. I can now say, I don’t have any curiosity of what it is like to run over a mountain pass in Iceland. I know how windy it is, I know how muddy the valley can be, and I know how cold those streams and rivers are. I truly got to experience Iceland in the most unique and memorable way :) I will certainly be back in the future.

Me, after finishing my first trail race “You guys…I lived to tell the tale.”

Photo by Jordan Rosen Photography

Outfit worn on this trail race:

Jacket: Arcteryx Squamish Hoody , Shorts: Tracksmith Lane 5 Shorts , Socks: Stance 360 Run Crew Socks , Shoes: New Balance Fresh Foam Hierro , Hydration Vest: Camelback Womens 50oz Vest, Watch: Garmin Forerunner 645 Music