(This was written on July 12)

Iceland is a funny place. One day you say: "It doesn't get any better than this"; but the next day you'll say it again, because of the new beauties that surprise you.

Last Friday July 8th was such a a day. After a group of nice kids had escorted us out of Fáskrúðsfjörður, I had the luck to run for about an hour on my own on this quiet road with hardly any traffic, alongside the fjord, mountains and ocean in bright sunshine. Everybody was enjoying the run so much that day. Being an optimist I had actually brought a bottle of sunscreen to Iceland, which I really needed that day.

We left the sea, our companion for almost the entire first week, at Reyðarfjörður. Going inland, we crossed a mountain pass and ended in

Egilsstaðir. Accomodations were provided for us by a school, as happened in other places (Icelandic kids enjoy great, long holidays of 3 months). As the school did not have showers, we were allowed to use the local swimming pool. Now this is one of the great things about Iceland. Almost every village has a swimming pol and a swimming pool is not just a swimming pool, but will also include a hot tub, whirlpool and sauna. What a way to unwind and to relax some tired muscles! The Egilstaðir swimming pool had a slide, which of course could not be left unused.

Saturday brought some new people on the team. Davið, Andrés, Upajukta and Viktoría came from Reykjavík. At the end of the day we had to say goodbye to Bhauliya, Neelabha, Steinunn and Ágúst. So the team is changing but the spirit with which we run remains.

Since Rúnar and me are the only ones staying the full two weeks, we took a day off from running. Though physically this may have been wise, the day felt a bit empty for me this way. The road from Egilsstaðir to Mývatn took us to empty, lonely country, dry and desertlike. Here and there a litlle lake, where some birds were searching out a living. At some places there was a little vegetation, which turned out to be surprisingly varied.

We slept at a farm called Möðruvellir, at 960 meters above sea-level, supposedly the highest place in Iceland where people live all year around. Nothing for miles; a great view at the big mountain Herðubreið, which seemed nearby in the clear sky but must have been more than 30 kilometers away. We had been going fast on Saturday as we arrived in the afternoon at Mývatn, the famous mosquito lake. We used this opportunity for a nice dip in the geothermal swimmingplace nearby, topped by a hot steambath. Clean again! In the evening we took one torch to the lavarocks of Dimmuborgir (the Dark Castle). There barren and strangely shaped rock were, at that time of day, a very quiet and peaceful place, and the many birch trees gave a lovely, sweet smell. Davíð and Rúnar climbed some rocks for extra special photo-opportunities.

Four days of good weather would have been too much, so Monday was again a wet day. We had the support of some good runners, in the morning, amongst other a young boy with the personal best of 17 minutes in the 5000 meters (olympics 2016?) and, at the end of the day, one of Iceland's fastest female long distance runners. She and her team took us to Akureyri, where we were warmly welcomed and fed by the aunt of Upajukta, one of the Icelandic team members. Such hospitality and support is really nice if you are on the road, and much appreciated by all of us.

Tuesday proved true to it's name of having the best summerweather of Iceland. The torch was passed on by many children with again tremendous enthusiasm and strength. Quite an inspiration! The last 25 kilometers we were on our own again, going through beautiful mountain scenery. The combination of a long hill and wind that hit us head on, meant that we had to take shifts of only 2 kilometers. Hard work, but patience and perseverance together always reach the goal.

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