Island Escape

TRAIL RUNNING IN THE WILD AND RUGGED FAROE ISLANDS

- Luke Nelson

As I struggled to take off my pants, I lost my balance and hit the partition of the bathroom stall. The space was small, and I was trying to change into running clothes in the men’s bathroom in the Vágar Airport. Moments prior, Inga and I had gotten off of our flight from Iceland and, with one glance outside at the gorgeous day, knew that Kelvin would be itching to get out to shoot photos before the sun set.

The Faroe Islands are a small island chain in the North Atlantic, partway between Iceland and Scotland. In October 2017, Inga Fanney, 35, of Reykjavik, Iceland, Kelvin Trautman, 34, of Cape Town, South Africa, and I, 37, of Pocatello, Idaho, traveled from various parts of the globe to explore the running potential of the rugged islands, where jagged cliffs shoot straight out of the sea and low vegetation covers any surface it can cling to.