Freshly arrived in Iceland for most of us, our first stop after the hostel was the marathon office of Iceland.

 

We didn’t really know what we had to expect but we were not really scared. Very soon, We discover that a marathon was much more than runners in the street. We had two weeks before the marathon start and we had thousands things to do. We started our week with the medals: put stickers, pack, count a full program for these awards.

 

Then we started the numbers: 15.000 numbers had to fly in envelopes with some leaflets and flyers. Fortunately, we were helped by local volunteers and it was a good opportunity to meet Icelanders. We also helped during the « Pasta party », a nice event to take care of the runners the day before the race. On the day of the marathon, we could help in the lazy town run organized for the children and the free time we had during the marathon races itself gave the opportunity to one of us to run the 10 kilometres and win a well ranked position.

 

After the work and the dinner, we were resting and enjoying the evenings in the marathon office building where three different rooms with comfortable beds were freed for us. We also had access to a nice conference room for our meetings, evening games and environmental activities.

 

But during these two weeks, we were not only working. We had the chance to do the golden circle, a travel trough some of the wonders of Iceland. The visit of the geothermal power plant, the powerful waterfall of Gullfoss and the famous Geysir area. We also went to the Blue lagoon enjoy the milky blue 40°C water of this half natural pool. Beside these two main activities, we could enjoy Reykjavik and it’s unique lifestyle. Everyday, we were enjoying the close swimming pool and it’s 10 different pots for free. At the evening, we were often going out in downtown to discover the Reykjavik night life and we can all say that «  it is crazy ! ». After the marathon, we also had the chance to attend this once a year event which is the «  cultural night ». A night with about 250 free concerts.

 

What a great sensation to contribute to this big event and at the same time enjoy the city of Reykjavik and Iceland!