An adventure is finding new places outside your comfort zone. That’s why Robbie Britton and James Elson are running 342km across a sub-Arctic moonscape this week. That, and a love of hail

Today is all uphill. Four words you don’t want to hear when you find yourself on day five of a 342km run across Iceland. My legs are tired, but strangely my mind is looking forward to the next couple of days.

After five days of running across the desolate moonscape that is the central Icelandic highlands, battling a headwind for four of those days, while sleeping in toilets, barns, tents and anywhere else we could find, I’m a little tired.



Why are we running across Iceland? Good question. A simple answer is because we wanted to find out if we could do it. Neither of us had visited the sub-Arctic island before, but my planning was far from meticulous and it’s turned into a real adventure.



River crossings, snow storms and a temperamental Suzuki Vitara called Helga were some of the challenges, with our support crew declaring they didn’t have enough petrol for the journey on day one, before Helga changed her mind and stopped guzzling it like a teenage binge drinker on day two.



A race to the end: my first Did Not Finish Read more

We’re getting into the latter stages of the trip now. The 55km Laugavegur trail is the most popular in Iceland and the prospect of glaciers, waterfalls, volcanoes and hot springs is bringing extra life to tired muscles. The pads of my feet have taken a battering on the hundreds of kilometres of black volcanic rock, but shuffle on they will.

Stopping at hot springs tonight after covering an average of 55km a day for five days will be a welcome respite, before we hit the hilliest part of the route without our support crew.

The weather can change so suddenly and violently in Iceland that weakened runners are at risk of hypothermia, disorientation and wanting their mummies several times a day. Squalls pass over the highlands, hitting us like a boat at sea. You can see them coming, but sideways hail always hurts.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Running across the Iceland moonscape. Photograph: Iain Pender and Dan Castro

Bad weather aside, this is really a holiday for James and I. Even pissed wet through, getting hail and snow in the face while running across the same black moonscape we have seen for four days, we are enjoying ourselves. We love a good adventure.



You don’t have to run across Iceland to have an adventure, although it helps. There are plenty in our own beautiful isles, whether in Scotland’s Highlands or Lewisham’s streets. An adventure is just a personal journey, being out of your comfort zone and finding new places. Go find a new trail or get lost in the city, but check out Alistair Humphrey’s Micro Adventures and be an adventurer every now and again.

Now, excuse me, we’ve got to run to some hot springs and that hail needs to land in somebody’s face.



