Polar Circle Marathon® and Half Marathon

Course highlights

The marathon takes place on uneven gravel road and ice. The run starts about 4 km from the inland ice and follows the gravel road on to the ice cap. While running on the ice cap one should be very attentive and careful, even with a thick layer of snow on top this part can still be very slippery. Because of the danger of falling into a crevasse, it is strictly forbidden to leave the marked route on the inland ice. The route on the ice is a loop of approximately 2-3 km – because of the enormous powers of nature and the general retraction of the ice cap the exact distance will only be found a couple of days before the race and may also be affected by the amount of snow on the ice. Coming back up from the ice and passing the original starting point you have approximately 32 km left to the finish line in Kangerlussuaq. Please bear in mind that although the road is gravel, it is likely to be covered by a layer of snow. Half marathon runners start from the same point and at the same time as the full marathon runners. The half marathon runners also run the loop on the ice cap and their finish line is located after the respective 21.1 km. In the half marathon finish area a heated bus will take all half marathon participants back to Kangerlussuaq when the last half marathon runner has crossed the finish line. The terrain is hilly all the way with the steepest ascends being the climb coming off the ice cap and the approximately 75 meters high climb 5 kilometers before the finish line. From the ice cap to the finish line, however, the route has an overall descent of approximately 500 meters.