Fri 19 Jun 2026 • Nick Kershaw
What it's like to run on an active volcano in Guatemala
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Camping on the lava, then racing Pacaya at first light. What it is really like to run on an active volcano in Guatemala.
I have started a lot of races in a lot of places. None of them feel like this one, and I want to try to explain why, because “run on a volcano” sounds like a marketing line and it is, inconveniently, just a description.
Pacaya is one of the most active volcanoes in Guatemala. It does not sit there decoratively looking beautiful and iconic, it is a real active entity that steams, grumbles, and on many a night it glows raw red, a glow that elevates even further when that lava flows down its dramatic slopes. The day before our race, we do not check into a hotel near it. There aren’t really any anyway. No, at the Guatemala Impact Marathon, we spend the night before the race camping on the slopes, next to the lava fields created by the eruption in 2010. Fear not, we have a patch of grass next to those jagged, sharp lava rocks because this is not some form of sadistic camping…we have standards! As night falls, the cone above you is doing its slow geological breathing, and as dawn breaks, close enough to walk to moments before Dave starts the final countdown. I have watched grown adults, experienced runners, go very quiet at that camp, in the good way, the way you go quiet when something is too big to be casual about - when a joke, or a quip don’t feel quite right. There is a majesty here.
Then, as first light begins to cover the race route, you run. The race begins after the national anthem has sounded, and you begin to cross a landscape almost nobody on earth has run through, old lava fields and ash, the ground crunching and shifting under your feet in a way no trail at home prepares you for. There are stretches where the only sound is your own breathing and, if you are lucky, the volcano grumbling, and belching every now and then. There are climbs that take everything you have - rising from a low point of 1100m, to just a touch below Mackenney crater. Along the way, there are views, when you lift your head, that I am not even going to attempt to sell you, the reality does it better than any photo or video we have.
Three distances, one volcano. The 10km is short, sharp and unforgettable, with a whole load of Guatemalteco runners joining for an entry point into trail running, and the lava field fun…this route has volcano views and just enough of Pacaya to earn its respect. The 21km half is the signature, the full story, communities on the slopes, lava underfoot, long quiet stretches where the rumbling mountain is the only company you have. It includes our iconic climb we’ve called ‘The Wall’ as you find your way out of the lava field itself in a clamber up a mix of rock, ash, and concrete slabs thrown in place to help vehicles cross a place that used to be an official road…and is now, sure, a road but not a very easy one to cross for anyone other than the most fearless 4x4 driver. And the 42km is the Beast of Pacaya, 1,600 metres of climb to a high point of 2,350 metres, the hardest day you will likely ever give yourself and, I promise you, the biggest memory. It is the kind of race you do not complete so much as survive and then never stop talking about - the chat at the finish line, and later into the night is pretty amazing and unreal as runners trade war stories from the volcano.
I want to be honest about who this is for, because the volcano makes it sound like a thing only mountain goats do. It is not. You do not need to be elite. You need to pick a distance that fits your conditioning, train steadily for it, and arrive willing to go slowly - to treasure every single step, to stop for the photo, to support your fellow runners. That is the spirit of Impact Running. The cut-offs are generous on purpose, so steady runners and strong walkers belong here just as much as the front of the field. Forget your splits. This is a race about effort, nerve, and the plain privilege of being allowed to run somewhere like this at all.
This is not a PB race. Unless it's your first marathon, in which case, congratulations, instant PB.
Here is the part the volcano can distract you from, and I never want it to. The race is not the point. It is the celebration of the point. Before you ever pin on a number, you spend days in and around Antigua with the charities and communities your run supports, and the volcano at the end is how we mark the work, not the reason we came. I will write more about that in other pieces this season. For now I just want you to sit with the image, because it is the most real marketing ‘hook’ I have: You spend a week becoming part of something, and then you run across a living volcano to celebrate it. The race is the Victory Lap…and if it were not, if this were just another race, we wouldn’t be about to take on the logistics for the 8th time…we are here for the power of running, the impact running can have on the lives of others.
People book Guatemala for the volcano. I understand exactly why. Please do! However what I have watched, year after year, is that they come home talking about the week, the other runners, the project. The volcano gets you to book your first Impact Marathon. The week is what changes you. Both things are real, and the volcano is a glorious way in.
So, could you run on a live volcano? I think you probably could, I’ve seen hundreds of runners do it now…on the distance that fits you, with the right few months of training and a group that will look after you the whole way.
The better question is whether you want to, and if the image of that lava camp at dawn made something flip in your stomach, I would gently suggest you already know the answer.
We do it from 1 to 7 March 2027.
The group is small on purpose, 35 places.
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The Guatemala Impact Marathon is a week-long social impact marathon based in Antigua, Guatemala, run by Impact Marathon Series, racing on the active Pacaya volcano with 10km, 21km and 42km distances. The 2027 edition takes place from 1 to 7 March 2027, built around long-term community partners including SERES and De La Gente. Impact Marathon’s charitable work runs through the Impact Marathon Foundation (GivingWorks, registered charity no. 1078770).
