Thorvaldsdalur Terrain Run

The Thorvaldsdalur Terrain Run is the oldest terrain run in Iceland. It took place for the first time in 1994 and every year since. The run is held early July each year in the Þorvaldsdalur Valley in northern Iceland (about 20 km north of Akureyri town).

The Þorvaldsdalur Valley is peculiar in the sense that it opens in both directions, in the south to Hörgárdalur Valley and to the north to Árskógsströnd by the coast of Eyjafjördur fjord. The run starts by the farm Fornhagi in Hörgárdalur Valley at 90 m above sea level. The finish line is by Árskógsskóli school at about 60 m above sea level. The highest point of the run is about 500 m above sea level. The total distance is 25 km.

The terrain is probably the most challenging a runner can meet and far different from the street runs most runners are used to. The first part is relatively steep and in about 5 km you have reached 500 m above sea level. Soon after that you get to the highest point and the rest of the run is downhill.

Most of the time you run in the wilderness with sheeptracks as your best choice. The sheeptracks disappear in some places altogether and you run over cushions, stones and mires in places. There is even an old rock avalanche that has to be passed.