A week on and I am still buzzing from the experience. The course was not just spectacular but also very well marked, and the support team were all fun yet professional in ensuring our safety (if not comfort!) in the Highlands.
We showed up as strangers, but left as friends, united through the bond of suffering.
I’ll recommend the Fire and Ice to everyone. Especially those who hate their feet and feel the need to be punished. Legends, the lot of you.
I wanted to thank you all from the bottom of my heart — the technical and medical staff, and all the amazing runners with whom I had the honour of sharing this wonderful adventure.
It was my privilege to meet so many amazing, warm and special people. I cried leaving the restaurant. It felt like leaving family.
Massive thanks to the crew for an amazing job of looking after us.
“… beyond the running challenge and Iceland’s unique scenery, the people associated with this race made my overall experience extra special — my seven tent mates for the week, the organisers, the volunteers and medical staff who looked after us in often very difficult conditions, and every runner who despite ability, injury or blisters finished the race.”
David — 2018“I could wax lyrical about the sights and sounds, but I wouldn’t really want to ruin it for anyone. All I will say is, if there is one race you do in your life, make it this one.”
Louise — 2017“A few miles of lush grass, flowers and even insects beside a stream, and we were back up the other side into a landscape more akin to the moon.”
Kevin — 2017“Some numbers: 1,680 km in training since January. 250 km race, six stages, one of 70 km. 56 hours 20 minutes total time. 648,960 footsteps. Six freezing nights, two barefoot river crossings. Maximum 13 °C, minimum −4 °C. Pack 9.5 kg at the start, 5.5 kg at the finish. Twelve freeze-dried meals. 500 g of parmesan. Just a few blisters. 66 competitors — only 4 had to give up. A great bunch of new friends.”
Sabina — 2017“The mixed feelings caused by the sublime torture provided by the course and the terrain, the determination of not letting go (to be honest, there really was nowhere else to go), and the giddy happiness, ultimate satisfaction, heavenly tiredness and extreme sense of belonging at the end of each day are difficult to convey, hard to imagine and, above all, impossible to forget.”
Bee — 2017“I decided early on that this was just going to be about survival, not racing.”
Garth — 2016“My old man came in 7 minutes behind me in 19th place — pretty impressive for an old guy.”
Gísli — 2016“I had two mantras. One: “I’m ok, I’m ok” — a minute-by-minute check that I was warm enough, uninjured, moving forward. Two, in my very best Irish accent, is not printable. And yes, I laughed every single time.”
Isabelle — 2016“It’s 90 per cent mental, and 10 per cent mental.”
Charles — 2016“… we hit a track which took us through alien-esque territory, beautiful yet eerie. I’m not surprised this area was the training ground for astronauts practising moon landings.”
Karen — 2015“I made it to checkpoint 3, the last one before the finish, and something interesting happened. After hours of crying on the course and limping along, I just accepted things. I found some level of peace within the pain and started making a move.”
Nadia — 2015“I emerged from the rocks next to the waterfall, apparently to the surprise of a gaggle of tourists who looked incredibly awestruck at this gaunt, wild-eyed mountain man bursting out of the wilderness in front of them.”
Loren — 2014“I’m fond of saying that in races like these, finishing is winning and everything else is a bonus.”
Simon — 2012Finisher quotes from the 2026 edition to be added once the client has permission to use names.
Entries open for 2027
£2,800 · £700 deposit secures your place.