A part of the route takes place on the ice sheet itself, but the main part of the course is run on the gravel road (often snow-covered) that connects the ice sheet with the small township of Kangerlussuaq, just north of the Polar Circle. The ice sheet can be very slippery and the danger of falls during this section is high. Due to the enormous powers of nature and the general retraction of the ice sheet, the exact distance on the ice will only be found a couple of days before the race, but a 3 km loop is aimed for. Because of the danger of falling into a
crevasse, runners are strictly forbidden to leave the marked route on the ice sheet. Coming back up from the ice and passing the starting point, there is 32 km left to the finish line, which is in Kangerlussuaq. Running these remaining kilometers takes runners past enormous glacier tongues and moraine plains and goes through tundra and arctic desert. The terrain is hilly all the way with the steepest ascents being the climb coming off the ice sheet and the approximately 75m-high climb 5 km before the finish line. From the ice sheet to the finish line, however, the route has an overall descent of approximately 500m. The marathon finish line is located in front of Polar Lodge in the northern part of Kangerlussuaq. The half marathon finish line is located at Long Lake, just before Sanddrift Valley. The exact route description is subject to change according to the forces of nature. ==Results==