Race Report: 2026 Icefjord Midnight Marathon

On May 30, I ran the Icefjord Midnight Marathon in Ilulissat, Greenland.  This race is sponsored by Albatros Adventure Marathons, which puts on adventure races around the world.  Seven years ago, I ran the Bagan Temple Marathon, which was also sponsored by Albatros.  I booked the trip through Coddiwomple Travel.

Albatros Adventure Marathons is based in Denmark.  The tour package included flights to and from Greenland, but these flights originated in Copenhagen.  I was on my own to get to and from Copenhagen.

Wednesday, May 27

My first flight was an overnight flight to Amsterdam.  The IT systems in the Amsterdam airport were down, so they had to do passport control manually.  The line was pretty long, but I had a long enough layover that I didn’t need to stress about it.

From Amsterdam, I flew to Copenhagen, arriving around 11 AM.  My hotel was near the central train station, so I thought it would be easy to get there by train.  It should’ve been easy, but the trains kept getting delayed and then cancelled.  By the time I got to my hotel, it was 1:00.

I had one day on my own in Copenhagen before meeting up with my tour group to fly to Greenland.  I’ve been to Copenhagen before, so I didn’t feel the need to do any sightseeing.  Instead, I did a workout and took a shower.

I never had lunch, so I had an early dinner.  I have a knack for finding the best pizza in any city.  On my previous visit to Copenhagen, I discovered an Italian restaurant that was founded by a chef from Italy.  It was near my hotel, so I went back.  After dinner, I went to the Warpigs brewery, to sample some local beers.

My hotel in Copenhagen didn’t have air conditioning, so I needed to open windows to cool the room down.  While I waited for the room to get cool, I was resting in bed.  Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

Thursday, May 28

I woke up at 2:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep.  I rested in bed until I needed to get up, but waking up so early made a long travel day feel even longer.

After breakfast, I took a train back to the airport, where I met the tour guides from Albatros and checked in for my flights to Greenland.  The guides from Albatros gave us each a backpack, which contained our race packets.

These flights were operated my Air Greenland.  Their baggage allowances are based on weight, rather than the number of pieces.  Checked bags are limited to 20 kg., total.  Carry-on bags are limited to 8 kg.  Knowing that, I brought two smaller bags, rather than taking a bag that was big enough for all my gear.  I had to check them both, because I also had a backpack with my laptop and all my electronics.

First, we flew to Nuuk, which is the largest city in Greenland.  That was a five-hour flight.  There was a three-hour time difference, so it was noon in Nuuk when we arrived.

Everyone in the group was on the same flight to Nuuk, but we were split over four different flights from Nuuk to Ilulissat.  I was on the last flight, which didn’t leave Nuuk until 7:55 PM.

Those of us on later flights had time to leave the airport and see some of the city.  We took a bus to the city center and walked down to the waterfront.

We also stopped at a museum, where we had the opportunity to learn more about Nuuk.  There was a cold wind on the waterfront, so it was nice to get out of the wind.

The flight to Ilulissat was relatively short, but I was pretty tired when we arrived.  It was 9:30 PM in Ilulissat, but it was after midnight in Copenhagen.  Having been awake since 2:30 AM, I was anxious to get to the hotel and get some sleep.

The group was staying in a few different hotels.  My home for the next five nights was Hotel Hvide Falk.  The first thing I did after checking in was to open a window.  While my room was cooling down, I joined the others on the patio to admire the views of icebergs in the bay.

I met several other runners from the U.S., but the majority of the runners on this trip were from Europe.  I met runners from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, England, Wales, Poland, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands.  I also met a few runners from Mexico, India, Singapore, and Australia.

I got to bed late that night, but I slept reasonably well.

Friday, May 29

The hotel had a breakfast buffet.  Every morning, we had views of the Icebergs in the bay.  There was much more ice Friday morning than there had been the previous evening.

After breakfast, we went for a hike through the Sermermiut Valley.  This gave us an opportunity to see portions of the marathon course, so we would know what to expect.  It also gave us our first views of the Ilulissat Icefjord.  Icebergs breaking off from the Jakobshavn Glacier flow out through this fjord and into the sea.

I had lunch at a café in town.  Then I went on a two-hour boat tour that let me see the Ilulissat Icefjord from the water.  I thought there was a lot of ice in the bay, but that was nothing compared what we saw when we reached the Icefjord.

I had time in the afternoon to do a workout.  In the evening, we had a pre-race briefing, followed by a pasta dinner.

I was able to get to sleep at a more reasonable hour.  I slept really well that night.  I needed that.

Saturday, May 30

Saturday was race day, but the race didn’t start until 9 PM.  Before that, I was on my own.  I slept in as late as I could before finally getting up and going to breakfast.

Every day, the bay looked different.  On Saturday, there was considerably less ice.  It all depended on the wind direction.

Every day there were optional excursions.  On Saturday, some people went kayaking, and others went to meet the sled dogs.  I didn’t schedule anything for Saturday.  I mostly relaxed at the hotel and saved my energy for the race.

Because the race started so late, I ate a full lunch.  I found a café in town where I could get a pizza.  One of their pizzas was a musk ox pizza.  It had musk ox, onions, peppers, and cheese.

Walking back to the hotel, I noticed it was foggy over the bay.  Everywhere else it was clear.

The pizza was a heavy meal, but I had several hours to digest before the race.  About an hour after lunch, I started to feel sleepy, so I climbed into bed to see if I could take an afternoon nap before the race.  It took about an hour to fall asleep, and then I only nodded off briefly before waking up again.  Still, I think it helped me to be more alert later in the day.

After getting up, I took a hot shower, did some stretches, and made a cup of tea.

Throughout the day, other runners were going out for short walks.  With so much time before the race, it was easy to get restless, but I did my best to save my energy for the race.

The last walking I did before the race was to walk to a nearby grocery store to get a pastry in lieu of dinner.  I didn’t want to eat anything heavy, but I also didn’t want to go more than eight hours without eating anything.

By now, the fog over the bay was thicker, and fog had moved into the town.  I was worried about visibility during the race, but I was assured that the fog would lift before the race started.  Sure enough, by 7:00 the fog had lifted, the skies were clear, there was very little wind, and it felt warmer than it did in the afternoon.

At 8:45, we met outside the hotel and walked together to Zion’s Church, where the race started.

The temperature at the start was 36 degrees, and it would drop a couple degrees during the night.  That’s cooler than I was expecting.  The hourly forecast for 9 PM was 44 degrees.  There wasn’t much wind, but I didn’t know if we would feel a cold breeze when we were near the Icefjord.  I wore two layers on top, plus tights.  I started the race with a jacket tied around my waist, in case I needed to add a layer later in the race.

This was my second straight night marathon, but this time it never got dark.  At night, the sun was close to the horizon, but it never set.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that this is a race that I knew would really challenge me.

The course was two laps of a 21.1K loop.  Each lap had 345 meters (1,131 feet) of ascent.  About one third of the race was on technical trails, and long sections were over rock, with uneven footing.

The time limit was seven hours.  I was glad they had a generous time limit, because I’ve struggled on hills lately, and the trail sections aren’t really runnable.  My only goal was to make steady progress and stay on pace to beat the time limit.

This was a cupless race.  We had collapsible cups in our race packets, but I brought a cup I could clip to my belt, so I could keep my hands free.

The first few kilometers were on city streets, but it was hilly.  On a few of the hills, I had to take walking breaks.  Despite walking the steeper hills, my pace on this section was about 10:30 per mile.  I was happy with that.

At about 4K, I went up a long set of stairs.  These led up to the first of four trails.  This trail was called the yellow trail, and it was marked with yellow pain spots, plus orange flagging.

This trail was mostly over rock, but the footing was uneven, and we constantly had to step up or step down.  I couldn’t run it, and it was tough to even maintain a consistent walking pace.  Also, there were low spots between the rocks that were wet or muddy, and I couldn’t avoid getting my shoes wet.

My pace on the yellow trail was slower than 20 minutes per mile.  If the whole race was this tough, I wouldn’t be able to stay on pace to beat the time limit.  I knew the technical sections were in the first half of the loop.  I was counting on maintaining a better pace when we got back onto roads.

While this trail was difficult, I was occasionally rewarded with great views of the icebergs in the Icefjord.

At about 7K, I reached the end of the yellow trail, and I turned onto a wooden walkway that was about a kilometer long.  I had hiked this section on Friday, so I knew this section was runnable.

The walkway ended with another set of stairs.  Then I started onto the blue trail.

The blue trail started with a tough climb, but it got better after that.  Like the yellow trail, it wasn’t runnable, but there were more level sections.  Toward the end, however, there were a few tough climbs.  My pace here was a little better than the yellow trail, but not by much.

The blue trail also gave me some good views.

We didn’t run all of the blue trail.  We only followed it until it met up with the red trail.  The red trail was less difficult than the yellow and blue trails.  At times, it was almost runnable.

At the end of the red trail, I reached the visitor center for the Sermermiut Valley.  After that, the rest of the loop was mostly on roads.

Where I turned onto the road, there was a building with bathrooms.  There weren’t many bathrooms on the course, so I decided to make a quick stop while I had the chance.

The next few kilometers were through residential neighborhoods in Ilulissat.  Here, I was able to pick up the pace again.

My hands started to get cold here.  I was wearing polypro gloves, and I also had some Gore-Tex mittens in my fanny pack.  I considered putting them on, but I knew that would make it more difficult to clip or unclip the band that attached my drinking cup to my fanny pack.

I had other options to keep myself warmer.  I was wearing a regular running hat, but I had a winter hat in my fanny pack.  I put on the winter hat and then pulled my running hat over it.  I still needed the brim of the running hat to keep the sun out of my eyes.

Before long, I reached a long hill.  I remembered seeing this hill on the elevation profile.  I had to walk most of it.

Whenever we were on roads, I was surprised by how much traffic there was.  By now, it was after 10:30, but every street had traffic in both directions, making it impossible to run the tangents.  I always had to keep to one side and watch for cars.

After that hill, I was able to run the rest of the way through town until I crossed a bridge and entered the northern section of Ilulissat.

There was an aid station just past 13K.  I knew there wouldn’t be another aid station until I reached a turnaround at the northernmost point on the course.  I drank first and then put on my Gore-Tex mittens.

As I crossed the bridge, I saw a runner coming back.  Right after the bridge, there was another long hill.  This was the largest hill on the course, so I had to walk most of it.

On this hill, I started to see more runners who were on their way back from the turnaround point.  They just had one kilometer left in their first lap.

I eventually had to leave this road to turn onto the last trail section.  This one was the orange trail.  This trail wasn’t as long as the yellow or blue trail.  It also wasn’t as technical.  Most of this trail was relatively flat.  It was also less rocky.  It times, it was runnable, but I had to watch out that I didn’t trip over rocks.  Out of a sense of caution, I rarely ran here.  Mostly, I was hiking at a brisk pace.

The trail was marked with orange flagging, but occasionally there was also a rock painted orange.  I was near the end of the trail when I ran past an orange rock, but couldn’t see any more orange flags.  Then a volunteer yelled to me that I needed to turn, and he pointed to the orange flagging.  I told him that the position of that orange rock had led me to keep going in the wrong direction.  After that, he removed the orange rock.

After turning to follow the orange flags, I quickly got back onto the road.  I just had to go a short distance on the road to reach the airport.  There was an aid station there with a sign indicating this was the turnaround point.

At the turnaround, one of the volunteers gave me a blue band to put on my wrist.  I needed that to prove that I had gone all the way to the turnaround.

Coming back from the airport, the route was different.  In this direction, I didn’t need to take the orange trail.  Instead, I stayed on the road.  I thought that would be easier, but this road had two long hills that I needed to walk.  Also, the road wasn’t as direct as the trail.

When I was coming back from the turnaround, I saw five runners who were a short distance behind me.  I didn’t know if there were more, because I couldn’t see runners who were still on the orange trail.

After walking two hills, I started down the long hill that would take me back to the bridge.  I started to see more runners going the other way, but they were wearing half marathon race bibs.  The half marathon started at 10:30, so these runners were making good time.

I eventually saw two runners on their way out with marathon bibs.  They were way behind me at this point.  I wondered if they were on pace to beat the seven-hour time limit.  In fact, these were the fast runners, who were already on their second lap.

I was still getting cold.  I had a Tyvek jacket tied around my waist.  My last option for keeping myself warm was to put on my jacket.  That would be difficult to do with mittens on.

The end of the lap was right in front of my hotel.  I was expecting to make another bathroom stop.  I figured that would be the best time to put on my jacket, since I would need to take off the mittens anyway.  Also, I would be indoors where it’s warmer.

I paid attention to where I was at midnight.  I was couldn’t quite make it back to the hotel before midnight.  I was just a few blocks away.  I could see the sun to my right.  I wanted to take a picture, but I didn’t want to take my gloves and mittens off.

Sunday, May 31

In the last kilometer of my first lap, I started to feel pressure in my intestines.  At first, I thought I could make it to the end of the lap.  Then I wasn’t so sure.  With about 200 meters left in my first lap, I ran down a short hill, and with every stride, I was losing control of my bowels, and there was nothing I could do about it until I got back to the hotel.

When I finished that lap, I ran into the hotel.  One of the tour guides asked me if I needed to use the bathroom.  I said, “more than that.”

My room was close to the hotel entrance.  I ran to my room and went to the bathroom.  I had already soiled my tights and my sport briefs.  Fortunately, I had packed two different types of leggings, not knowing which one I would wear.  I also had another pair of sport briefs.  I don’t remember why I packed those, but I was glad I had them.

I took off my shoes and then took off the soiled clothes and tossed them into the shower stall.  I would have to deal with washing them after the race.  After cleaning myself up, I changed into clean clothes.  While I was at it, I put on dry socks and my Tyvek jacket.  Then I headed back out to start my second lap.

My official time for the first lap was 3:02:40.  By the time I went back out to start my second lap, my time was closer to 3:17.  Stopping at the hotel cost me about 14 minutes, but I still had roughly 3:43 to finish my second lap.  I could afford to be about 40 minutes slower in my second lap than I was in the first lap.  I knew the second lap would be slower, but it seemed unlikely that I would be that much slower.

As I started my second lap, I found myself not only taking walking breaks on the hills, but sometimes walking briefly on sections that I ran on my first lap.  I wanted to force myself to run, but I had to be realistic.  The first lap had taken a lot out of me, and I was getting too tired to keep up the same pace.  My pace on the roads was a couple minutes slower.

When I got onto the yellow trail for the second time, I was fatigued, but I had a better idea what I was doing.  I was able to pick my lines with more confidence.

At one point, I made a bad step and turned my ankle.  I wasn’t sure if my race was over, but I walked it off, and within a minute my ankle was feeling OK again.

My first mile on this trail was two minutes faster than it was in my first lap.  At the time, that surprised me.  In retrospect, I was faster this time, because I wasn’t stopping to take pictures.

The next mile had two steep climbs that were really tiring.  I was slower on those climbs the second time around.  Even still, I was shocked when I got the next split from my watch.  I was seven minutes slower this time.

After the yellow trail, there was an aid station.  Up until now, I was drinking their energy drink at each aid station.  This one also had gels, so I ate a gel.

Next, I got back onto the wooden boardwalk.  This section is runnable, but I didn’t feel like I was running it as fast.  After running the yellow trail again, I had some soreness in my lower back and my glutes.  The trail wasn’t just tiring.  It was beating me up.

The blue trail starts with a tough climb, and I could tell I was slower this time.  When I had to take big steps uphill, I had to pause to catch my breath.  I had the same experience on the steepest climbs of the yellow trail.

Even after the trail leveled out somewhat, I wasn’t maintaining as brisk of a pace as I did on the first lap.  Then I reached more steep climbs.  Mile 18 included part of the blue trail, but it also included the boardwalk.  My pace in that mile was about the same as it was in the first lap.  Mile 19, which included two steep climbs was six minutes slower.  I wasn’t halfway through my second lap yet, and I was already at least 15 minutes slower than I had been in the first lap.

On the red trail, I sometimes found it difficult to see the trail markers.  The sun was at a low angle now, and I was having to look right into the sun on this section.

When I reached the end of the trail, I decided to use the bathroom again.  I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have another “accident” later.  As it turns out, I really didn’t need to stop.

I was happy to be back on roads again, but I needed to do more walking this time.  Even before I reached the first long hill, I had to take a couple short walking breaks.  After running the trails again, I was just too tired to force myself to maintain a continuous run.

At the 32K mark, I checked to see how much time I had left.  I had 97 minutes to run the last 10.2 kilometers.  That seemed like it shouldn’t be too difficult, if I could force myself to run most of the runnable sections.

There were still numerous cars on the road.  They were coming from both directions.  At was after 2 AM now, and I wondered if anyone in this town ever sleeps.

I had to take occasional walking breaks, but I forced myself of keep them short.  After crossing the bridge again, I started up the longest hill, and I had to walk almost all of it.

At the 36K mark, I had 65 minutes left.  I could now afford to average almost 11 minutes per kilometer.  I felt good about that.

The first time I reached the beginning of the orange trail, there was a course marshal showing me where to leave the road.  Nobody was there this time, but I saw the sign, and I recognized the turn.

Parts of this trail are runnable, but I was so fatigued that I was afraid I would trip on a rock.  Instead, I did my best to walk it at a brisk pace.  The next time I got a split, I saw that I was maintaining the pace I needed, even on the trail.

As I was nearing the end of that trail, I didn’t see the orange rock that had confused me the first time.  I was also paying more attention to the orange flags.  I was relieved when I got back onto the road.  I still had some tiring hills, but no more trails.

I reached the turnaround and got a second wrist band.  Coming back from the turn, I didn’t see anybody behind me.  The runners who were right behind me on my first lap had all passed me when I made my long bathroom stop at the end of that lap.  It’s possible that there was a runner who was still on the orange trail, but as far as I could see, I was the last runner on the course.

Coming back, I not only had to walk the hills, but it was tough to force myself to run where it was flat.  Instead, I really focused on walking as briskly as I could, even on the steep hills.

I checked my pace at every kilometer.  I was consistently going faster than the pace I needed to average to beat the cutoff.

With three kilometers to go, I knew I would finish with at least five minutes to spare.  That margin kept improving.

I finished the race in 6:51:37.  I was immediately handed my finished medal.  It’s a pretty cool medal, with different designs on each side.  It also has a small spinner.

I thought I was going to be the last finisher.  Then I found out that there was still one more runner on the course.  At 4 AM, she still had one kilometer to go.  Everyone went outside to watch her finish.  She came in after the 4 AM deadline, but we all cheered for her.

The hotel bar stayed open all night.  Several of the other runners were having post-race beers.  I opted for hot chocolate instead.  I needed that to warm up.

A few people asked me my impression of the race.  As far as how much I enjoyed it, that was hard to answer.  My “accident” tainted my race experience.  As far as difficulty of the course, it probably ranks in the top five.  It also ranks in the top five for scenery.

After I got back to the room, I still needed to rinse out the filthy clothes that I discarded earlier.  Then I took a hot shower.  I wanted to get some sleep, but it was almost time for breakfast.  I decided to stay up a little longer and eat breakfast before going to sleep.

I slept for almost four hours.  Then I decided to get up, so I would be able to get to sleep in the evening.  When I went downstairs, I saw that it was foggy again.  I’m glad we didn’t have to run in this.

I only saw a few other runners in the afternoon.  Some people had booked optional excursion.  Others were sleeping.  I didn’t feel up to going anywhere, so I had lunch in the hotel’s restaurant with a couple from Singapore.

After lunch, I started to get sleepy again.  I took another brief nap.  Then I had to wake up and get ready for our celebration dinner.

The Albatros staff hosted a dinner for us in the evening.  It was a three-course meal, and between courses, they showed a video of the race, told us how many runners there were from each country, and recognized the top finishers in each race.  Here's a link to the video: Race Recap Video

I slept well that night.

Monday, June 1

Monday morning, I saw an example of how quickly the weather can change in Greenland.  When I went down to breakfast, if was so foggy that I couldn’t see any of the icebergs in the bay.  Ten minutes later, the fog was gone, and I could see all the way across the bay.

After breakfast, I went on a six-hour boat trip to the Eqi Glacier.

We also saw some interesting icebergs.

On our way back from the glacier, we did some whale watching.

In the evening, we had our final dinner together.  It was a Greenlandic buffet, with lots of fish and seafood.  Then I had to get to bed early, in preparation for an early flight.

Tuesday, June 2

Tuesday was a long travel day.  First, we flew to Kangerlussuaq.  The flights to Kangerlussuaq were all on small planes, so the group was spread over five different flights.

My flight was at 7 AM, so I had to be up early.  The hotel had an early breakfast for us at 4:45.

I had a five-hour layover in Kangerlussuaq.  I would've had time to leave the airport, but there isn’t much of a town, other than the airport.  There’s a hotel, a grocery store, a gift shop, and some houses.  Rather than explore, I just stayed in the airport terminal.  A few of us passed the time by playing cards.

After everyone else arrived, we were all on the same flight to Copenhagen.  The flight to Kangerlussuaq took less than an hour, but the flight back to Copenhagen took almost five hours.  Also, we took off almost an hour behind schedule.  Copenhagen is three hours ahead, so it was 9:30 PM when we arrived, and it was 10:30 by the time I had my bags.

I had one more night in Copenhagen before flying home, but this time I stayed at a hotel that I could walk to from the airport terminal.  I wanted to get there quickly, so I could get to sleep.  I also wanted to be able to get back to the airport quickly in the morning.

My room was on the top floor.  The room was warm, the AC didn't seem to be working, and I couldn't open a window.  Needless to say, I had trouble sleeping.

Wednesday, June 3

I flew home from Copenhagen on Wednesday, with a layover in Amsterdam.  It was my second consecutive day spending at least 14 hours on planes or in airports.  It's also the second consecutive day that I have to adjust to a significant time difference.  I’m very tired now, and I only have two days to recover from the jet lag before my next race.  Hopefully, I can catch up on sleep by then, because my next race is a 24-hour race.

Race statistics:

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  6:51:37

Average Pace:  9:45 per kilometer (15:42 per mile)

First Half:  3:02:40

Second Half:  3:48:57

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  14

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  586

Countries:  60

Race Report: Night Marathon

On May 16, I ran the Night Marathon in Luxembourg City.  Most of the races I’ve done in Europe have been held on Sunday mornings.  This race is held on a Saturday evening.

Luxembourg is a small landlocked country, bordering Belgium, Germany, and France.  The official language is Luxembourgish, but French and German are commonly spoken.  Road signs are mostly in French, and I noticed that most of the restaurants have menus in French.

Thursday, May 14

I arrived in Amsterdam on an overnight flight from Minneapolis.  This was my first arrival in Europe since they began implementing the new Entry/Exit System, which uses biometric data instead of passport stamps.  I was worried about long lines, but I was lucky to get to the arrival hall when there wasn’t any line at all.  I needed to use a kiosk to scan my passport, face, and fingerprints, but that only took a few minutes.

I got to Luxembourg City around 10:00.  Public transportation in Luxembourg is free.  I caught a bus right outside the airport terminal and took it to the stop that was closest to my hotel.

I quickly learned that passing showers can come at any time.  It was sunny when I left the airport, but it started raining hard just before I got off the bus.  I had an umbrella in my suitcase, but I didn’t want to hunt for it in the rain.  I walked to the hotel as quickly as I could with luggage, but I was soaked by the time I got there.  After that, I never went anywhere without having an umbrella handy.

I stayed at the Best Western Plus.  I chose this hotel because it’s close to a tram stop, making it easy to get to and from the race venue.  I was within a mile of the old town.

It was much too early to check in, but the rain had already stopped, so I left my bags at the hotel and went into town to do some sightseeing.

I booked a walking tour for Friday, but I was on my own for sightseeing on Thursday.  I avoided visiting sites that I knew I would see on my walking tour.  Instead, I walked to some of the old fortifications in the Alzette river valley.

Luxembourg City is located at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers.  Overlooking the Alzette valley, you can see the remnants of a series of fortifications that were built centuries ago.  At one time, Luxembourg City was one of the most heavily fortified cities in Europe, but many of the fortifications have been destroyed or removed since the late 1800s.

After walking to the old town, I went out to a viewpoint that was high above the Alzette River.  Looking across the valley, you can see the remnants of Fort Niedergrünewald on the hillside.

From the viewing platform, I was able to take an elevator down to the bottom of the valley.  My next stop was this gate, which used to be part of the city wall.

I crossed the river on this stone arch bridge.

From the bridge, I had this view of the river.

I saw a similar gate on the other side.

As I worked my way along the east bank, I came to this Romanian Orthodox church.

There were two forts I wanted to see on the east bank of the river.  The first one was Fort Obergrünewald.  To get there, I had to hike up a steep trail.

I continued past Fort Obergrünewald to reach Fort Thüngen.  This fort has been restored, and it’s now a museum which describes the history of the various fortifications in the city.

On my way back down into the valley, I stopped at this viewpoint, to look back across the river.

When I got back to the old town, I was overdue for lunch.  Thursday was Ascension Day, which is a holiday in Luxembourg.  Most of the restaurants were closed, so I had to walk around a while before I found a restaurant that was open.

I had a filling lunch.  Then I walked back to the hotel, where I was able to check into my room.  Then I tried to take a nap.

On the first day of an overseas trip, I usually force myself to stay awake until nightfall, and then I crash.  I usually adopt an early-to-bed, early to rise schedule.  Because my race was an evening race, I wanted to sleep late and stay up late.  I didn’t think I could do a late night on that first day without a nap.  As it turns out, I wasn’t able to fall asleep while it was still light out.

After resting in bed for a couple hours, I got up and took a shower.  Then I was able to function again.

I went back into the old town and wandered around looking for a place to have dinner.  It wasn’t easy.  Most of the restaurants were closed.  The ones that were open were so busy that you needed a reservation to get a table.  A few had outdoor seating, but it was 50 degrees, and I wasn’t dressed warm enough for that.  I eventually found a nice Italian restaurant that was open, but surprisingly wasn’t busy.

When it got dark, I was finally able to get some sleep.

Friday, May 15

After breakfast, I did a workout at the hotel.  Then I took a tram to the expo.  The expo was held at an exposition center called Luxexpo – The Box.  It was located in Kirchberg, which is the modern business district.

I arrived just as the expo was starting, so it was crowded.  Packet pickup was in one part of the building.  A different part of the building had exhibitors.

In the afternoon, I took a free walking tour, where the tour guides work for tips.  The meeting point was next to a tram stop, making it easy to get there.

We started at Place de Metz, which is home to Luxembourg’s first bank.

Next, we crossed the Adolphe Bridge, which is a stone arch bridge dating to the 1900s.  From the bridge, we had views of the Pétrusse valley.

After crossing the bridge, we followed the northern edge of the river valley, which is also the southern edge of the old town.  Our next stop was a plaza with a war memorial honoring the fallen heroes of the two world wars.

We continued to the Cathedral Notre-Dame of Luxembourg.

Our next stop was another war memorial, but this one was dedicated to victims of the holocaust.

We entered the old town, where our next stop was a statue dedicated to the Grand Duchess Charlotte.

As we continued into the old town, we saw the Grand Ducal Palace.

Our guide pointed out places we might want to visit later on our own.  One was Place Guillaume II, which is the largest public square in the old town.

Our guide also pointed out restaurants where we could try local food and beverages, as wells as restaurants of historic importance, such as the old fish market.  Our last stop before leaving the old town was Luxembourg’s oldest church.

Our last two stops were scenic overlooks.  From one, we had a view of the Alzette valley.

From the other, we had a view of the Grund neighborhood in the Pétrusse valley.

I had skipped lunch, so after the tour I was hungry for an early dinner.  I walked back into the old town to look for a place to eat dinner.  It wasn’t a holiday, so all the restaurants were open, but the first few I tried didn’t open until 6:30 or 7:00.  I eventually settled on another Italian restaurant.

Because I had an early dinner, I went out later for dessert, at a restaurant near my hotel.

Saturday, May 16

Saturday was race day, but the race wasn’t until 7:00 PM, so I had an unusual race day schedule.  I slept later than usual, getting up at 8:00 only so I wouldn’t miss the hotel’s breakfast hours.  I ate a larger than usual breakfast.

After breakfast, I climbed back into bed.  I didn’t get back to sleep, but I rested all morning, while digesting my big breakfast.

It was almost lunch time when I finally showered and got dressed.  Lunch was an important meal.  It was my last meal of the day, so I needed to eat enough to sustain myself for the rest of the day.  At the same time, I didn’t want to eat anything too heavy.

There was a breakfast spot around the block from my hotel that served waffles.  That sounded perfect, but when I got there, I saw that all the indoor seating was taken.  I didn’t want to spend too much time on my feet before the race, but I reluctantly walked into the old town.  I had the same experience there.  There were numerous cafes, but indoor seating was limited, and all the tables were taken.

I eventually gave up on finding a breakfast spot.  After doing way too much walking, I went to an Italian restaurant and had pasta instead.  That meal was more filling than I would have preferred, but I had more than five hours to digest before the race.

After lunch, I checked the forecast, picked out my clothes for the race, and reviewed the runner’s guide, so I would know the layout of the start area.

The race started at Luxexpo – The Box.  We were advised to get there by 4:30 PM.  That seemed awfully early, but I needed to take the tram, and I didn’t know how crowded they would be if I waited until later.  It’s a large race, and most people were getting there by tram or bus.  I left the hotel at 4:00, and arrived at the start area about 20 minutes later.

The starting line was outside, but we could wait inside the building, where there was a gear check and real bathrooms.  They had an area inside the building called the Runners’ Lounge.  There were dozens of tables with benches, so I was able to sit down while I waited.

When I needed to get up to use the bathroom, I decided I might as well check my gear bag.  I had a pair of wind pants that I might need after the race if I was cold.  I also had a warm hat and a plastic rain poncho.  I wasn’t seeing any rain in the forecast, so I put those things in the gear bag as well.

The gear check was in the next room.  Once I went into that room, the volunteers wouldn’t let me go back to the lounge area.  It was one-way traffic.  I went outside, walked around to the main entrance, and walked through some long hallways to get back to the lounge.  Then I continued waiting.

The next time I checked my weather app, the forecast had changed.  Now it looked like it would start raining 10 or 15 minutes before the race started.  I regretted putting my rain poncho in the gear bag that I already checked.

I’m using to morning races, where it’s coldest at the start and gradually warms up.  In an evening race, the temperature is gradually dropping.  It was 51 degrees when we started, but the temperature would drop several degrees by the time I finished.  I wore tights to keep my legs warm.  On top, I was wearing a long sleeve polypro shirt with a T-shirt over it.  I expected to be overdressed in the first half of the race, but I wanted to make sure I was warm enough in the late miles, when it was colder.

We had to be in the start corrals by 6:50.  The runners’ guide they gave us had a good map of the start corrals and how to reach the entrance to each corral.  I left the building at 6:30 and worked my way into the corral.

I didn’t have a time goal for this race.  I knew from my recent race experiences that 4:00 or 4:05 was unrealistic.  I wanted to go at a pace where I could enjoy the experience and not blow up.  The time limit was six hours.  I wanted to finish before midnight, which gave me five hours.

They had pace groups in 15-minute increments.  I was planning to start with the 4:29 group.  I knew they were starting in the same corral, but I couldn’t find them.  Between the marathon, the half marathon, and the relay, there were 18,000 runners.  There were thousands of runners just in my corral.

Ten minutes before the start, the wind picked up, and it started raining.  In addition to my other layers, I was wearing a Tyvek jacket.  I was planning to take it off and tie it around my waist before we started.  Instead, I decided to keep it on as long as it was raining.  I unzipped it in front, so it wouldn’t cover up my race bib.

In the start corrals, we were packed in like sardines.  The bodies around me sheltered me from the cold wind.  After crossing the starting line, there was enough room between runners that I could feel the wind.  Even with all my layers, I was cold.

The first five kilometers were through the Kirchberg district.  In the first kilometer, we snaked back and forth.  Then we finally turned onto a street that took us toward the city center.  There was enough water on the street, that I could feel cold water soaking through my shoes.

Looking ahead to the west, I could see a break in the clouds.  I was cautiously optimistic that the rain wouldn’t last for too much longer.

When I’m cold, I have a subconscious tendency to run faster.  Ideally, I would’ve started at a pace in the 10:20s.  Instead, I ran the first mile in 9:20.  That wasn’t a sustainable pace, so I tried to tell myself to relax.

The next mile was even faster.  I had to make a conscious effort to slow down.  The third mile was 9:38.  That was better, but it was still too fast.

After about five kilometers, we reached a section with a few turns.  Instead of running on pavement, there were places where we were running across plazas paved with tiles.  The tiles were wet, so I had to be careful.

Crossing diagonally through one plaza, we had to run between some metal posts.  The runners around me were weaving around them haphazardly.  Everyone was taking a different line.  Another runner bumped into me and almost knocked me down.

In the fourth mile, we crossed the “red bridge” over the Alzette valley.  I couldn’t tell if it was still raining.  I didn’t feel any drops, but the streets were wet and my clothes were wet, so it was hard to tell.

As we came off the bridge, there were huge crowds on both sides.  Some of the spectators were holding signs made from cardboard.  The cardboard signs didn’t appear to be wet, so I concluded the rain had stopped.

I took off my jacket and tied it around my waist.  It’s tough to do that while running.  It’s even tougher when the sleeves are wet.  I was forced to slow down.

At this point, we were making a loop though a small city park.  We were on a narrow path.  I slowed down as I was trying to tie my jacket.  Faster runners were bumping into me as they tried to get by.

At about 7K, we ran through a large plaza and then crossed over the tram tracks near my hotel.  The next several kilometers were through a neighborhood just north of my hotel.  I had not previously explored this neighborhood.

I didn’t like this part of the course.  We had good crowd support, but the streets were too narrow for so many runners.  Also, there was an insane number of turns.

This part of the course was also slightly hilly.  There were no steep hills, but some streets were slightly uphill and others were slightly downhill.  Whenever I was running uphill, I started to get hot, even without my jacket.  I was forced to slow down to keep from overheating.  After averaging about 9:30 per mile in the first four miles, I slowed to about 11 minutes from mile five on.

Runners doing the half marathon had signs on their backs saying, “21K.”  Runners in the marathon relay had signs saying, “Team Run.”  The runners doing the full marathon were the only ones with no signs on their backs.  At least 90 percent of the runners around me had signs.

Between 13 and 14K, we ran near my hotel and crossed the tram tracks again.  Then we ran through a different section of the same city park we had run through earlier.  After leaving the park, we ran through the old town.  There were huge crowds of spectators in the old town, and they made lots of noise for us.

As we ran through one of the large squares, I saw too large inflatable arches.  One said, “21.”  The other said, “42.”  This is where the races diverged.  After the split, it was far less crowded, but faster runners were still bumping into me as they went by.  That got really annoying.

It was in the old town that I first noticed a change in the lighting.  There wasn’t as much natural light.  It wasn’t dark yet, but the street lamps started to turn on.

At 16K, we left the old town.  I started to feel a cold breeze.  I no longer had to worry about overheating.  Soon, I would have to worry about getting cold, even with all the layers I was wearing.

The next 12 kilometers took us on a circuitous route through neighborhoods to the west of the city center.  It was the first time I saw these neighborhoods.  I found them to be disappointing.  The crowds were thin here.

In the next mile, I sped up by about 30 seconds.  I didn’t make a conscious effort to speed up, but I was no longer making a conscious effort to go slow.  As it turns out, that mile was a fluke.  In the next mile, I slowed down to 11 minutes again.

At the halfway point, I was on pace for a time in the low 4:40s, but I knew I’d actually be slower than that.  The first half included four fast miles at the beginning when I was running faster to try to keep warm in the cold rain and wind.  There wouldn’t be any miles like that in the second half.

The sky above us wasn’t dark yet, and it was dark enough at street level that we were dependent on the street lamps.  Now, it really felt like a night race.  Sometimes we would run through a small park, and there would be shadows.  I had to pay closer attention to my footing.

By 25K, I had noticed that my watch was way off.  I was getting splits from my watch almost half a mile early.  There were numerous turns, and we were sometimes running through parks with heavy tree cover.  I’m sure those two things played a role.

I was getting weary now.  My pace got slower.  Now it was almost 12 minutes per mile.  At 27K, I told myself I only had 15K to go.  At 28K, I told myself I was two thirds done.  The remaining distance seemed manageable, but I was worried about what was coming.

Up until now, there were uphill streets and downhill streets, but the grade was always gentle.  There was nothing that actually looking like a hill.  I knew there would be real hills later, and I didn’t know how I would handle that.

Just past 28K, we crossed the Adolphe Bridge over the Pétrusse valley.  Under the roadway, there’s a lower level for cyclists and pedestrians.  I had walked across this level earlier, but it was different running through here at night.  It was brightly lit.

As we came off the bridge, we went down a ramp that took us down into the Pétrusse river valley.  As we ran under the Adolphe Bridge, I knew we would eventually have to climb back up to that level.  That was one of the hills that I knew was coming.

There wasn’t as much light down in the river valley.  There were shadows, so I couldn’t always see my footing.  Sometimes, I could feel a rough patch of pavement that I never saw.  That made me nervous.

For a while, the path we were on leveled off.  Then we started descending again.  It was scary how low we were going.  All I could think of was how much we would need to climb later to get back out of the valley.

Despite those concerns, this was actually my favorite part of the race.  It was the most scenic part of the course, and running it at night was eerie.

You could never run through here at night on your own.  There were places where the only light was from portable lights set up by the race organizers.  Without those, some sections would be completely dark.

We ran under another bridge, and it towered way above us.  I had trouble imagining climbing up to the level of that bridge.  Then we went under the next bridge, and I could see runners crossing the bridge.  We eventually needed to get way up there.

At 30K, we were as low as we would go.  We were right next to the river, and I could see the water.  We were only about five feet about the river.

The next kilometer was level.  Then, as I reached the 31K sign, I could see the start of the climb.  The first part was steep enough that the runners ahead of me were walking it.  I kept running, but at one point it didn’t seem like my running was any faster than walking.

The path we were on briefly leveled off.  Then we turned onto a road and starting climbing again.  This part wasn’t as steep.

We left the road and turned onto a brick rampway with switchbacks.  Then we got back onto city streets.

I knew we weren’t done climbing yet, but it was easier from here.  For the next two kilometers, we were going uphill, but only slightly.  The rest of the climb was really spread out.

We came around a turn, and I suddenly recognized where I was.  We were running through Place de Metz.  That’s right next to the Adolphe Bridge.  I was both amazed and relieved when I realized that we were done climbing.

We were on the south side of the river for another kilometer.  Then, at 35K, we began crossing the bridge that would take us back across the Pétrusse valley.  At 36K, we entered the old town again.  Now everything was lit up and colorful.  The crowds here were fantastic.  They were making all kinds of noise.  It was after 11 PM.  This was the Saturday night party crowd.  If the Pétrusse valley was my favorite part of the race, this was my second favorite part.

On most streets we had good footing.  In a few spots, there were cobblestones, but they were well-lit, so I could see my footing.

Between 37 and 38K, we crossed the “red bridge” again.  Coming back through Kirchberg, we took a different route than before.  I knew there was one more tough climb ahead.  Before the race, I was talking to a runner from Germany who did this race last year.  He said this climb wiped him out.

As soon as we were off the bridge, we turned and left the roadway.  We were climbing up to higher ground.  This climb was steeper than the previous one, but there was less total elevation change.

There were lamps on the side of the trail, but there were still shadows.  At one point, I accidentally went off the trail and into the grass.

Suddenly, the lights around me went dark.  I could see lights ahead of me that were still on.  I couldn’t see the trail, but I followed the runners ahead of me until I reached the lights.

Next, we ran through a tunnel.  I wasn’t sure what was above us.  Maybe it was a building, or maybe we were running under a hill.  After the tunnel, we came back onto the same street we had left earlier.

I was puzzled.  We had climbed and climbed, but we never came back down again.  How could this be the same street?  The only explanation is that this street was noticeably uphill.  When we ran it in the other direction, it seemed flat.  The early miles must have actually been downhill.  That explains why I was going fast in the early miles, even as I told myself to slow down.

With about 3K to go, I reached a beer stop that I think was an official aid station.  The beer they had was Diekirch, which was one of the race sponsors.  On one side of the road, there was a guy holding up a sign that said, “4.8 %”.  On the other side, there was a large sign, saying “Diekirch.”  As I took a cup, the guy handing it to me pointed to the sign.  He wanted to make sure I knew what I was drinking.

We were running right next to the tram line now.  As we passed a tram stop, I looked to see which one it was.  It was the stop for the European Parliament building.  I knew there were at least a few more stops before Luxexpo.  Looking for tram stops gave me a better sense of how much farther it was.

When my watch read 25 miles, I had to remind myself that the distance was misleading.  What I really wanted to see what the 40K sign.  It wasn’t even in sight yet.

At 40K, we left the road we were on.  We were right at a tram stop, but I couldn’t see which one.  I was hoping it was the last stop before Luxexpo.  It soon became obvious that it wasn’t.  We were on side streets for a while.  Then we turned onto a narrow path through the woods.

I was cold enough now that my hands were getting numb.  When my watch read 26 miles, I guessed that I actually had more than a kilometer to go.  Then I saw the “41” sign.  I looked at my watch.  It seemed like I would break five hours, but not by much.  As I continued, I realized my math was off.  I was thinking I had one kilometer to go, but it was actually 1200 meters.  I wasn’t going to finish by midnight.

With about 500 meters to go, we were running through a parking lot with metal barriers on each side.  I got too close to the barriers and tripped on one of the supports.  In daylight I would’ve seen it, but at night it was easy to miss.

I tumbled onto the pavement.  Another runner stopped to help me up.  I resumed running, but with far less enthusiasm.

Both hands hurt now.  I was wearing gloves, so I didn’t scrape them as badly as I would have otherwise.

The finish line was inside Luxexpo – The Box.  As I entered the building, I was immediately enveloped by warmer air.  That felt really good.  I just had to make a few turns withing the building before crossing the finish line.

I crossed the finish line in 5:00:56.  I was disappointed to be slower than five hours, but mostly I was happy to be done.

A volunteer handed me my finisher medal.  Then I went around a corner and into a different part of the building.

This room was the one where I checked my gear bag.  I retrieved my bag, but I didn’t even try to open it.  My hands were too cold to untie it.  I stopped long enough to put my jacket on.  Then I went to the next room, which had post-race food.

There were bananas and various protein bars, cut into small slices.  This was the only food I would eat before going to bed, so I made a point of eating enough to tide me over.

From that room, I could only go outside, but after leaving the “runners only” area, I re-entered the building.  I recognized the hallway I was in, so I knew I how to get back out to the main entrance.  Along the way, I stopped at a bathroom, so I wouldn’t need to stop at the port-o-potties outside.

Sunday, May 17

After the race, I needed to take a tram back to my hotel.  Ordinarily, the trams run from 4 AM to midnight, so leaving after midnight would be a problem.  On the night of the race, they had extended hours.  There were trams every seven minutes until 2:30 AM.

I boarded at the beginning of the line.  I was able to get on the next tram.  I was even able to get a seat.  Then more people kept piling in, until there wasn’t even room to stand.  As we reached other stops, there were people who wanted to board, but there was no room for them.

They have monitors that show which stop we’re at and the next few stops.  With all the people in the way, I couldn’t see the monitors.  At one point I asked the person standing next to me which stop we were at.  She struggled to remember the full name of the stop.  Then she said, “before the red bridge.”  A minute later, I could see that we were on the bridge.  Mine was the next stop.

Getting from my seat to the door wasn’t easy.  It helped that several other people were getting off at the same stop.

I only had to walk about a block to get to my hotel, but I had to wait for the light to change before crossing a street.  As I waited, I started to shiver.

Inside the hotel, I continued to shiver as I was waiting for the elevator.  I wonder what the other guy waiting for the elevator thought of me.  He didn’t appear to be a runner, and I’m sure I was a mess.

When I took off my gloves, I was relieved to see that I didn’t have any scrapes on my hands.  My gloves protected them.  When I took off my tights, I could see an abrasion on the outside of my right knee.  If I wasn’t wearing tights, it would’ve been much worse.

I took a hot shower.  I needed that to warm up more than I needed it to rinse off the sweat.

I needed to cool the room down before I could get to sleep.  As soon as my hair was dry, I opened a window.  Within 10 minutes, the room was five degrees cooler.  I closed the window and tried to get to sleep.

It was 2 AM when I went to bed.  It was probably 3 AM by the time I relaxed enough to fall asleep.

I woke up a few times.  The first two times, I got right back to sleep.  The third time, I noticed it was light outside.  It was almost 8:00, so I got up.  I wanted to get down to breakfast before it got too crowded.

Surprisingly, there were only a few other people in the breakfast area.  The previous two mornings, it was packed, and there was always a line for the coffee machine.  I got the impression most of the other guests at this hotel were business travelers, rather than runners.  I’m guessing very few of the business travelers stayed over the weekend.

I waited until after breakfast to take a shower.  Then I did my best to stretch my tight Achilles tendons.

After doing all my stretches, I did some strength training.  Those exercises helped to loosen me up, but my Achilles tendons were so tight I could barely walk.

I spent the first half of the afternoon at the hotel.  Then I walked into the old town for an early dinner.  I went to a restaurant recommended by the guide of my walking tour.  It’s across the street from the Grand Ducal Palace, and they serve traditional Luxembourgish food.

As luck would have it, I left the restaurant just in time to see the changing of the guard ceremony at the palace.  It’s a brief ceremony, so I easily could have missed it.

I turned in earlier than night, so I could catch up on sleep before a long travel day.

Monday, May 18

I flew home on Monday.  My flight to Amsterdam wasn’t until 10:25, so I was able to eat breakfast at the hotel before walking to the bus stop.  This time, I had my umbrella handy.

Walking to the bus stop and through the airports, I found that walking was already much more comfortable.

Race statistics:

Distance:  42.2 kilometers

Time:  5:00:56

Average Pace:  7:08 per kilometer (11:29 per mile)

First Half:  2:20:47

Second Half:  2:40:09

Marathons/Ultras in 2026:  13

Lifetime Marathons/Ultras:  585

Countries:  59