The 12th annual 55-kilometer-long Laugavegur Run from Landmannalaugar to Thórsmörk in Iceland’s southern highlands was held last weekend. Participants have increased every year and organizers were very pleased with this year’s run.
The Reykjavík Sports Union organizes the run. “It just began like a small fairytale and participants were brought to Landmannalaugar in one bus. […] Now we go there on a Thursday to prepare everything and have a staff of 70 people in the area,” organizer Svava Oddný Ásgeirsdóttir told Morgunbladid.
This year there were 250 participants and about 50 percent were foreigners. Last year, 130 people registered for the run. Ásgeirsdóttir said she doesn’t know why the Laugavegur run has become so popular.
“We don’t advertise it much,” Ásgeirsdóttir said. “I simply think people have become more adventurous.” Hiking between Landmannalaugar and Thórsmörk, which usually takes about 25 hours, is a popular tourist activity in Iceland.
This weekend, Eva Margrét Einarsdóttir won the women’s category by completing the run in five hours, 42 minutes and 23 seconds and Daníel Smári Gudmundsson won the men’s category with a time of four hours, 54 minutes and 28 seconds.
Gudmundsson said the Laugavegur Run is unlike any other run he has participated in. “It is amazingly diverse. You run under different conditions, upwards, down canyons, across streams and whatever. You have to stay focused the entire time.”
Click here to read more about the Laugavegur Run.
