Reykjavik Midnight Run 10k: 23 June 2008

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1 1 Scott Paul Johnston 40:57 SM Serpentine 65.6% 6:35

Race photos

Race photos are at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=41893&l=a9010&id=692189637

Report

This race is one of the series from the organisers of the Reykjavík Marathon, sponsored by Powerade. The course started at 22:10 and ended in the Laugardalur area of the city, about 20 minutes outside of the centre, and well beyond where most tourists venture. It consisted of just under 2 laps around the Laugardalur residential district and football stadium. This was helped by the near-perfect weather conditions: at 22:10 it was 13ºc, with a cloudless sky, full sunshine and a gentle 4mph breeze. Sunglasses are highly recommended. The course was gently undulating, but offered great potential for PBs given the big downhill sections at 4km and 8.5km. There was one water and Powerade stop at the 5km mark.

There are also 3km and 5km races run simultaneously around the same course. Gun-to-chip ChampionChip timing was used for the 5km and 10km races. The races were also started by a gun instead of those awful hooters, which made a nice change, and motorbike cops led the way for the first half km. All races were very well organised, and there were 375 finishers for the 10k, 316 finishers for the 5k, and 116 finishers for the 3k. The race attracts a lot of runners from around Iceland, especially the South-West, with all the major towns such as Grindavík and Keflavík offering well-represented friendly competition to the local runners.

The course was well marked and marshalled, with markers at every kilometre. The pre- and post- race atmosphere was friendly, and the level of support was good considering it was in a quieter part of the city, and being held on an evening during the working week (the race is always on the 23rd as part of the Jónsmessu mid-summer celebrations). There was a pre-race warm-up given by the local aerobics instructor as with many of the local 10Ks in the UK (albeit in Icelandic) and there was a decent medal, Powerade, bananas, and a free midnight swim in the Laugardalslaug geothermal pool for all of the finishers.

I was apparently one of 7 international runners in this race and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I was happy to achieve a 1 min PB, coming in 26th place overall. Although I speak Icelandic, most of the locals speak flawless English and the runners were very friendly and the organisers were very helpful. Not surprisingly, a few of them had heard of the Serpies and recognised our kit. I also enjoyed a nice pre-race leg massage at the Blue Lagoon (which was independently arranged and not included in the entry fee).

Reykjavík can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be, although it is worth stocking up on alcohol at the Duty Free store in Keflavík Airport (before you pick up your luggage) as the pubs and clubs are on the pricey side, and the state run liquor store is extortionate. For those running the marathon in August, I highly recommend the Ítalía restaurant on the main shopping street (Laugarvegur) for huge portions of tasty homemade pasta for reasonable (i.e. cheap for Reykjavík) prices.

I will certainly be doing this race again next year, and if anybody is interested in joining me, drop me a line and we can see about splitting the cost of accommodation.

Scott Johnston

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