{"id":41019,"date":"2026-04-04T15:11:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=41019"},"modified":"2026-04-04T15:11:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T15:11:57","slug":"11-of-the-coolest-marathon-courses-around-the-globe-from-the-great-wall-of-china-to-highway-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=41019","title":{"rendered":"11 of the Coolest Marathon Courses Around the Globe, From the Great Wall of China to Highway 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Date<\/strong>: June 27, 2026<br \/><strong>Registration<\/strong>: Open now<br \/><strong>Distances included:<\/strong> Full marathon, half-marathon, 10.55k<\/p>\n<p><strong>What to know:<\/strong> Designed for adventure-seekers, this Northern Iceland race explores one of Earth&#8217;s geological hot spots\u2014you\u2019ll run along the rim of two volcanic craters and over black lava rock, with steaming geysers taking your mind off the miles ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Unless you\u2019re an Icelandic resident, you\u2019ll need to book the six-day tour package, which is around $3,200 and includes accommodation, transportation, meals, a celebratory post-race dinner, and some activities, with add-ons like whale-watching and waterfall chasing available too. Of note, race entrance is not included in that fee ($345 for the half and full, and $200 for the quarter marathon).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where to stay<\/strong>: Our resident <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/gallery\/best-hotels-in-iceland\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">Iceland<\/a> expert and contributing writer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/contributor\/erika-owen\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">Erika Owen<\/a> highly recommends one of the tour lodging options, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/hotels\/oraefi\/fosshotel-glacier-lagoon\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">Fosshotel Glacier Lagoon<\/a>, saying that it \u201cembodies the best of Iceland: seclusion, surrounding nature, and beds topped with Icelandic wool blankets.\u201d On your way out of town, consider a stay at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/hotels\/grindavik\/the-retreat-at-blue-lagoon\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">The Retreat at Blue Lagoon<\/a>; beyond the must-dip-in thermal baths, the tasting menu at Michelin-starred Moss is well worth a splurge.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iJvQnD cOWUYC asset-embed\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-fnduJP iaVSwI asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-kFnjvc eKnjjD responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><picture class=\"ResponsiveImagePicture-jKunQM gjCCFj AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset responsive-image\"><\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionCredit-cUgOGk jOVlwA hRFzlA caption__credit\">Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Date<\/strong>: July 26, 2026<br \/><strong>Registration<\/strong>: Open now<br \/><strong>Distances included<\/strong>: Half-marathon, 5K<\/p>\n<p><strong>What to know<\/strong>: A 13.1-mile route through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/gallery\/best-hotels-in-napa-valley\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">Napa<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/story\/best-things-to-do-in-sonoma-california\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">Sonoma\u2019s<\/a> wine country, this course is surrounded by farms, vineyards, and ranches\u2014yes, there are gently rolling hills, but it\u2019s not an overly challenging course. The real prize for the 3,000-ish participants is at the finish line: At the post-race wine festival, top local vineyards reward you with wine tastings, and your goodie bag includes a commemorative wine glass.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where to stay<\/strong>: Several hotels partner with the race to offer <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/book.passkey.com\/event\/51192963\/owner\/49964903\/home\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/book.passkey.com\/event\/51192963\/owner\/49964903\/home&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/book.passkey.com\/event\/51192963\/owner\/49964903\/home\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">discounted stays<\/a>, including the Westin <a data-offer-url=\"https:\/\/www.booking.com\/hotel\/us\/the-westin-verasa-napa.html\" class=\"external-link text link\" data-event-click=\"{&quot;element&quot;:&quot;ExternalLink&quot;,&quot;outgoingURL&quot;:&quot;https:\/\/cna.st\/affiliate-link\/Pdwk3XorQzbyhK4oxoUKGDMHKthnQRuCnVepnhDHtwGw6AL8ZBEiK44a7vYK8bFnMfS9YLFg8LpXeQbVgvjvy91Bj7SriJBvxyE5wanMeU8eFMLTBzdozEnVLwR2uGeJyj4QbMWvBp2WguEEXdmKmoJd3ao37fPs7Mab9Rc4FuyojLpdmVZ69HPY6tbPYWYSRHt8pkSWAia9jy5Zmhf16fc1NDMpNZJTwzPucqgC7wpVm4wLLaacubpATfLfvS4Vr7vqjZQkJkDQwkjERbEbziCUYqGpYm9S4U2hfSisFa2HYCVgpYoKf2smkou8gq4wGyEcnQrQT24KKMKg6irNUreuwKLKJK1zhLs7VTJqzxkJzmwzVfr49Qj8yBrkrmL7dQs84TBfHC7duxN2oGjMrnuMBscPzEPaSeEUkSTgBwx4kX952bbhtoDBFeLzrJG4XBR891a85tyKPpkRYyKdaVkqvn8EbAXDsyfPiY&quot;}\" href=\"https:\/\/cna.st\/affiliate-link\/Pdwk3XorQzbyhK4oxoUKGDMHKthnQRuCnVepnhDHtwGw6AL8ZBEiK44a7vYK8bFnMfS9YLFg8LpXeQbVgvjvy91Bj7SriJBvxyE5wanMeU8eFMLTBzdozEnVLwR2uGeJyj4QbMWvBp2WguEEXdmKmoJd3ao37fPs7Mab9Rc4FuyojLpdmVZ69HPY6tbPYWYSRHt8pkSWAia9jy5Zmhf16fc1NDMpNZJTwzPucqgC7wpVm4wLLaacubpATfLfvS4Vr7vqjZQkJkDQwkjERbEbziCUYqGpYm9S4U2hfSisFa2HYCVgpYoKf2smkou8gq4wGyEcnQrQT24KKMKg6irNUreuwKLKJK1zhLs7VTJqzxkJzmwzVfr49Qj8yBrkrmL7dQs84TBfHC7duxN2oGjMrnuMBscPzEPaSeEUkSTgBwx4kX952bbhtoDBFeLzrJG4XBR891a85tyKPpkRYyKdaVkqvn8EbAXDsyfPiY\" rel=\"sponsored\" target=\"_blank\">Verasa Napa Hotel<\/a>, notable for its Hyperice Recover &amp; Recharge Kit available at the front desk. (Heads up for other future runs: Hyperice and Normatec products can be found at most Westins across the US! I swear by the Normatecs and Hypervolt for post-race recovery.) Just across the street from the starting line sits <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/hotels\/united-states\/napa\/carneros-resort-and-spa\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">Carneros Resort and Spa<\/a>, a seven-time Readers\u2019 Choice Award winner; down the street is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/hotels\/napa\/stanly-ranch-auberge\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text link\">Stanly Ranch<\/a>, an Auberge resort with a gorgeous outdoor pool that\u2019s exactly where I\u2019d want to park myself post-race.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iJvQnD cOWUYC asset-embed\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-fnduJP iaVSwI asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-kFnjvc eKnjjD responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><picture class=\"ResponsiveImagePicture-jKunQM gjCCFj AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The bridge linking the United States and Canada across the Detroit River\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dkeESL cQPiWi responsive-image__image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/69d031888a4eceb2902ba2f1\/master\/w_120,c_limit\/GettyImages-2260914107%20(1).jpg 120w, https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/69d031888a4eceb2902ba2f1\/master\/w_240,c_limit\/GettyImages-2260914107%20(1).jpg 240w, https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/69d031888a4eceb2902ba2f1\/master\/w_320,c_limit\/GettyImages-2260914107%20(1).jpg 320w, https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/69d031888a4eceb2902ba2f1\/master\/w_640,c_limit\/GettyImages-2260914107%20(1).jpg 640w, https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/69d031888a4eceb2902ba2f1\/master\/w_960,c_limit\/GettyImages-2260914107%20(1).jpg 960w, https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/69d031888a4eceb2902ba2f1\/master\/w_1280,c_limit\/GettyImages-2260914107%20(1).jpg 1280w, https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/69d031888a4eceb2902ba2f1\/master\/w_1600,c_limit\/GettyImages-2260914107%20(1).jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"100vw\" src=\"https:\/\/media.cntraveler.com\/photos\/69d031888a4eceb2902ba2f1\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/GettyImages-2260914107%2520(1).jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionCredit-cUgOGk jOVlwA hRFzlA caption__credit\">UCG\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cntraveler.com\/story\/the-coolest-marathon-courses-around-the-globe-from-the-great-wall-of-china-to-highway-1\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Date: June 27, 2026Registration: Open nowDistances included: Full marathon, half-marathon, 10.55k What to know: Designed for adventure-seekers, this Northern Iceland race explores one of Earth&#8217;s geological&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}