Polar Circle 1/2 Marathon on 24 October 2009 in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland.
It was a fantastic experience. We travelled out over 2 days - with a stop-over in Copenhagen. On the day prior to the run we had the course inspection - on a gloriously sunny day, so the ice cap looked a sea green and the temparature was about -15. We saw the northern lights that night as it was so clear
On the day of the run it was a bit more over cast and when we got onto the ice cap it was a beautiful pale blue colour. We were driven out to the start and then ran out 3k before getting onto the ice cap where we did a loop of around 4k before coming back down onto the road. 'Road' is maybe a bit of an exaggeration - the single track road was built many years ago by VW as they were testing out their vehicles and needed to get them to extreme conditions - so they had to build a road to get them onto the ice cap. They stopped doing this some years ago now, and so the road has deteriorated and is more like a trail.
Anyway, there was ice and snow over much of it. My first 5k was a personal worst of 50 something minutes, but once off the ice it did get a bit better. I completed the 1/2 in 3.07 and was 2nd woman. We finished by an absolutely fantastic lake and then changed and ate and were driven back the town, passing many of the marathon runners on the way. As the last of them were finishing, it started to snow. We saw reindeer and musk-ox. Some people saw arctic foxes, but I didn't. A great adventure!
Lesley Pymm
