Race Day and Culture Night in Reykjavik......

.....Woke up to a rather brisk but absolutely beautiful day to run!!! By race time at 8:40 it was around 50 degrees and probably hit a high of around 54 with beautiful baby-blue sky and a few wispy white clouds. Just absolutely perfect (Houston, by the way, had yet another triple-digit temperature setting a record for consecutive days).

Our hotel is about ten minutes walk down into the city center and a small group of us from our tour walked down together and warmed up.

Since Devin was doing the full marathon, we had separate routes but started together. We had agreed earlier to separate early so I was on my own in a giant crowd of people as the race got going and people started jostling for position and the race began spreading out and runners could set their own pace.

I didn't have a specific goal since this was a "destination" run but I did kind of want to come in around the three hour mark. Devin had set an unofficial goal of under four hours for the full marathon. Since the course was marked in kilometers, I was constantly converting to miles in my mind but at the 7 km point (1/3 of the way through the race), I was well ahead of my goal. The course went from downtown Reykjavik south over footbridges at the city lake and then wound through residential neighborhoods to the coastline. While distance running is not as popular In Iceland as it is in America, we still had residents out cheering us on and several bands were playing--one band was playing the theme from the movie "Rocky" and I heard later they played it non-stop for about four hours. There were some considerable hills involved which I knew about and anticipated but they still hammer this Texas "flatlander."

The coastal run, however, was flat and worked around the sweeping curvature of the bay with just breathtaking views (no pun intended). For some time, I had been pacing with a guy from Chicago and when we got one spot along the coast where there is a modern sculpture of a Viking longship, we stopped and he got a picture of me.

After that, he pulled away from me and later I spent some time pacing and talking with a Canadian girl who was running for Team Diabetes. That's what I enjoy about this--for three hours you meet and talk with the most interesting people. At the 14 km point (2/3 of the course), I was still ahead of my pace and feeling pretty good. At one point along the road, the full marathoners had looped up into the countryside above Reykjavik and were coming back on the other side of the road and I looked up and saw an orange dot bouncing up and down ahead of me. Even from that distance, I knew it was Devin with his Dynamo jersey and when we met, we high-fived as we passed.

My course then looped around in the industrial ship area and returned toward the city. At this point my legs were starting to feel tight and the course was slightly uphill for quite a ways. I knew I was losing pace but still felt pretty good. As is always the case, the last 5 km (3 miles) were the toughest but I ran it in and crossed the finish line at 3:03:46--three minutes over my stated goal of three hours but I was happy with it. I received my medal and just walked around the festivities in the downtown area until around the 4 hour mark when I got on a small hill above the finish line and videoed Devin crossing the finish line. His time was 3 hours and 57 minutes--just under his stated four hour goal.

After he walked it off, we joined up with a couple of other tour members and waited for another runner--a woman from Houston who was aiming for the five hour mark--and she came in at 5:18. After she got her wind back, we headed back up to the hotel. After showering and resting a bit, Devin and I headed back down and by that time the race was ending and Culture Night was starting. We eventually ran into two members of the group and walked up to the Reykjavik Cathedral and looked around. It is very distinctive and a city landmark. Iceland is predominately Lutheran so this was much plainer inside but still very impressive with its soaring ceiling and distinctive "wings" that are fashioned after the six-sided Cobalt columns like we had seen on the beach yesterday.

A group of us had made dinner reservations at a nice restaurant and it ended up seven of us having dinner together.

We then walked around in the city. Stages were set up in most large street intersections and bands were playing while street vendors were selling food. Kind of a Icelandic Renaissance Festival.

Everybody was just having a good time--no problems or anybody really drunk and looking for trouble but at one point some guy walked up to Devin and grabbed his medal from the race. Devin is a big guy but this guy was much, much larger and had huge arms covered with tattoos and was sporting about a three-day beard. He said something to Devin in Icelandic and Devin kind of looked strange and said "What?" The guy then laughed and said "good job."

Around 10:30--just as it was getting dark--they turned on colored lights in the brand-new opera house. The building is not completely finished but is very unique in that the outside is shaped like a giant fishing net with colored glass panes. We headed back up the hill towards the hotel and were almost there when we heard explosions and turned around and could see the fireworks display literally over the city lake.

When we did make it to the hotel room--I was tired and my legs were getting sore but I really didn't care.

Best birthday ever......