Great event today. Weather was a 10/10, making the swimming a lot easier than it could have been. Fantastic course in a great part of the country. Race management did a good job all around, and especially keeping it safe. Lars, the co-director, was all over the place and clearly does this as a labor of love.
There is something very cool about a race fitting the land/seascape, as opposed to a prescribed distance being imposed on an area.
Great event today. Weather was a 10/10, making the swimming a lot easier than it could have been. Fantastic course in a great part of the country. Race management did a good job all around, and especially keeping it safe. Lars, the co-director, was all over the place and clearly does this as a labor of love.
There is something very cool about a race fitting the land/seascape, as opposed to a prescribed distance being imposed on an area.
So, don’t just tease us, tell us about the race. How many swims vs how many runs, and total km swum vs total km run??? And total time swimming vs time running??? You said the weather allowed for easier swimming so i’m guessing not much wind or waves. Were the runs hilly??? I would assume you wore a wetsuit but did you also use the pull buoy and paddles??? Did you swim w/ your run shoes on??? Come on now, pony up, inquiring minds want to know!!! Also, how do they do awards??? Overall and masters only, or do they have “grand masters” also, and is that over 50 or over 60??? Also, i would guess they give out awards to the top male teams, top female, and top mixed??? Were the entries limited to 150 teams, and did 150 teams show up???
Great event today. Weather was a 10/10, making the swimming a lot easier than it could have been. Fantastic course in a great part of the country. Race management did a good job all around, and especially keeping it safe. Lars, the co-director, was all over the place and clearly does this as a labor of love.
There is something very cool about a race fitting the land/seascape, as opposed to a prescribed distance being imposed on an area.
So, don’t just tease us, tell us about the race. How many swims vs how many runs, and total km swum vs total km run??? And total time swimming vs time running??? You said the weather allowed for easier swimming so i’m guessing not much wind or waves. Were the runs hilly??? I would assume you wore a wetsuit but did you also use the pull buoy and paddles??? Did you swim w/ your run shoes on??? Come on now, pony up, inquiring minds want to know!!! Also, how do they do awards??? Overall and masters only, or do they have “grand masters” also, and is that over 50 or over 60??? Also, i would guess they give out awards to the top male teams, top female, and top mixed??? Were the entries limited to 150 teams, and did 150 teams show up???
I agree with making a race that ‘fits the land/seascape’. It’s what attracted me to Savageman and SOS. Lars and Jeff did do a great job. I’m certain it was a tremendous amount of work. As an AOS, I greatly appreciated the lack of added weather challenges. It still was a TON of open water swimming and dealing with a current-totally new for my partner and I. Our Garmin lines show it all too well.
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Lifestyle/The_2017_SwimRun_USA_Casco_Bay_6505.html
Shout out to HalfSpeed, in picture #1 !
.
So, don’t just tease us, tell us about the race. How many swims vs how many runs, and total km swum vs total km run??? And total time swimming vs time running??? You said the weather allowed for easier swimming so i’m guessing not much wind or waves. Were the runs hilly??? I would assume you wore a wetsuit but did you also use the pull buoy and paddles??? Did you swim w/ your run shoes on??? Come on now, pony up, inquiring minds want to know!!! Also, how do they do awards??? Overall and masters only, or do they have “grand masters” also, and is that over 50 or over 60??? Also, i would guess they give out awards to the top male teams, top female, and top mixed??? Were the entries limited to 150 teams, and did 150 teams show up???
You have to use a wetsuit - it is mandatory. These races typically have no age groups awards plus with teams of two how would you count it? It is top three overall in each division - male, mixed and female. No Clydesdales or Athenas either. 
H
So, don’t just tease us, tell us about the race. How many swims vs how many runs, and total km swum vs total km run??? And total time swimming vs time running??? You said the weather allowed for easier swimming so i’m guessing not much wind or waves. Were the runs hilly??? I would assume you wore a wetsuit but did you also use the pull buoy and paddles??? Did you swim w/ your run shoes on??? Come on now, pony up, inquiring minds want to know!!! Also, how do they do awards??? Overall and masters only, or do they have “grand masters” also, and is that over 50 or over 60??? Also, i would guess they give out awards to the top male teams, top female, and top mixed??? Were the entries limited to 150 teams, and did 150 teams show up???
You have to use a wetsuit - it is mandatory. These races typically have no age groups awards plus with teams of two how would you count it? It is top three overall in each division - male, mixed and female. No Clydesdales or Athenas either. H
Too easy bro, masters swimming solved that problem many years ago; they do relays by total age, e.g. if you go to the Masters Nationals results you’ll see relays like 120-159, 160-199, etc. Swimrun could easily copy this; I mean really they should at least have an “80-119” division and “120 and up” for male, female, and mixed, if all six have entries.
Here are my key thoughts / observations after my first swimrun:
like I said in the earlier post, it is very appealing to use the geography to provide the outline of a course, as opposed to cramming a prescribed distance on a locale. Anybody that has run or biked around a traffic cone on an out and back spur gets that.
given that the event is so swim-heavy, weather conditions will have a huge impact on race experiences. There will be no more than five days a Summer in Maine as beautiful and calm as yesterday. A couple days earlier, we would have been swimming in two foot swells. Tides vary with the lunar cycle and time of day. We got very lucky yesterday. Think of how often IM cancels swims–if conditions dictated such here, the whole event would have been cancelled with no makeup.
the teammate component is arguably the biggest difference from any other type of SBR race experience. For the placement or goal-obsessed individual, you will experience a lowest common denominator aspect of performance. You need an identically skilled swimmer and runner to maximize your potential. Given the unlikelihood of finding that, its best to accept each other’s limitations and just enjoy yourself. Embrace this as a break from worrying about an AG award, qualification of some kind, etc.
the anxiety over gear selection is misplaced. Swimming with shoes isn’t too bad. I used a pull buoy, but did not use hand paddles. It appeared that many people did use the paddles. Some used fins. The shorty Orca wetsuits were most common. This sport is evolving and I am sure people will look back in ten years and say it was stupid we did this or that. Most likely, the wetsuits will improve over time (Roka–will you get involved?).
this is a great way to leverage your IM fitness. Swimming doesn’t require a big recuperation period, so you can fit this into your tri season as a fun respite easily.
the possibility of other locales is fun to consider. How about an urban swimrun? Could you do one in NYC? Boston? San Fran?
But why? I did the race in Switzerland where I was 36th overall with my team mate. And 24th male. That sufficed to me.
Great event today. Weather was a 10/10, making the swimming a lot easier than it could have been. Fantastic course in a great part of the country. Race management did a good job all around, and especially keeping it safe. Lars, the co-director, was all over the place and clearly does this as a labor of love.
There is something very cool about a race fitting the land/seascape, as opposed to a prescribed distance being imposed on an area.
So, don’t just tease us, tell us about the race. How many swims vs how many runs, and total km swum vs total km run??? And total time swimming vs time running??? You said the weather allowed for easier swimming so i’m guessing not much wind or waves. Were the runs hilly??? I would assume you wore a wetsuit but did you also use the pull buoy and paddles??? Did you swim w/ your run shoes on??? Come on now, pony up, inquiring minds want to know!!! Also, how do they do awards??? Overall and masters only, or do they have “grand masters” also, and is that over 50 or over 60??? Also, i would guess they give out awards to the top male teams, top female, and top mixed??? Were the entries limited to 150 teams, and did 150 teams show up???
I agree with making a race that ‘fits the land/seascape’. It’s what attracted me to Savageman and SOS. Lars and Jeff did do a great job. I’m certain it was a tremendous amount of work. As an AOS, I greatly appreciated the lack of added weather challenges. It still was a TON of open water swimming and dealing with a current-totally new for my partner and I. Our Garmin lines show it all too well.
https://connect.garmin.com/.../activity/1915913563
So, your Garmin lines show the route but it is hard to tell what the distances are; the total is 24.05 miles but how does that break out between swimming and running??? Can your Garmin tell you your time and distance for the swim portion and for the run???
Swimrun VA this October navigates through downtown Richmond and the James River. Not exactly NYC but I’m not so sure I want to swim in the Hudson either. I’d be down for it if I can find a partner.
But why? I did the race in Switzerland where I was 36th overall with my team mate. And 24th male. That sufficed to me.
Ummm, well, maybe you don’t actually read this forum much but many STers will do almost anything to win an AG award. How else do you explain the total obsession with aerodynamics, fit, etc, other than they all want to go as fast as possible and place as high as possible. Hell, most STers think they are “FOP” if they are at the front of their 5-yr AG, whereas I’ve always thought FOP means front of the WHOLE pack, e.g. front of the race overall. You’re going to totally rain on their parade w/o at least some AGs.
There is IRONMAN for that and USAT age group races. In a race I did last year we would have been first in (100-120) but we were sill beaten by a female team and 2 mixed teams. Thus 8th male and 11th overall is very easy to understand.
How awesome to be in pic #1! That was the final swim exit and I was exhausted. There is another pic climbing stairs up a grassy hill, that’s the final climb before a 100 yard dash to the finish. Heidi was practically dragging me up those stairs. We came in 5th coed team and 33 overall. We had some great moments and some mistakes. I really have no idea how much time out mistakes cost us, perhaps 15 minutes. On the other hand, of those swimming around us, some took the tidal surges too seriously (there was hardly any at all) and swam in great arcs, we passed quite a few that way, only do have them pass us on the next run. There were two long swims close to a mile each and then shorter swims with the shortest, I think, just a few hundred. We wore the very popular Orca orange shorty wetsuit made specially for swimrun. We did not use paddles or pull-buoys - I have a problem holding a pull-buoy between my legs as I’m rather bowlegged. I used Icebug Men’s Acceleritas Ocr RB9X shoes which have super aggressive lugs, which, at first seemed too much for the paved running sections we first had. Later on, we traversed, soft sand, mushy wet slimy sand, small rocks, giant rocks, rocks covered in slime (super slippery), rocks underwater, narrow singletrack surrounded by steamy vegetation, and gravel. Those shoes are the bomb, as they handled the terrain with a surefootedness I have never felt before.
The weather was very nice, perhaps a bit warm and I didn’t take the time to strip down the top of the wetsuit for the longer runs, the longest being about 4.5 miles. It gets a bit slimy inside the wetsuit and I was craving the next swim to cool off. In the long swims, my arms were getting tired and, while not bitter cold (there were spots as cold as 60F but averaging maybe 63), I craved getting out and start running again. This cycle continued throughout. But, the last couple of swims, well, they felt great for about 10 strokes, then I felt like I was spinning my wheels getting nowhere. The encouragement from Heidi and seeing we were passing others in the swim kept me going.
Mistakes we made: Know the long runs and strip out of the wetsuit tops for them. Crummy homemade tether got tangled while carrying it on the runs (you don’t have to be tethered for the runs). It also got tangled several times around my foot, so use floating rope. Prep for the upcoming swim while running - caps, goggles and tether. Start the race a little easier. Maybe use paddles… I’m not sure yet. I hate paddles in the pool as I am slower with them.
Heidi invited me to do this race with her a year ago, just knowing that I have done well in triathlon and swimming. We did some trail races together (she beat me all the time). We did some masters swim meets together (she beats me there, too). In spite of that, she was happy how we did, so much so, she put us on the wait list for Swimrun North Carolina.
Relive it (The time shown in the video cuts out pause time, which includes the slow moving over the most heinous rock scrambles. we finished in 5:34)
There is IRONMAN for that and USAT age group races. In a race I did last year we would have been first in (100-120) but we were sill beaten by a female team and 2 mixed teams. Thus 8th male and 11th overall is very easy to understand.
OK.
Nice work
How awesome to be in pic #1! That was the final swim exit and I was exhausted. There is another pic climbing stairs up a grassy hill, that’s the final climb before a 100 yard dash to the finish. Heidi was practically dragging me up those stairs. We came in 5th coed team and 33 overall. We had some great moments and some mistakes. I really have no idea how much time out mistakes cost us, perhaps 15 minutes. On the other hand, of those swimming around us, some took the tidal surges too seriously (there was hardly any at all) and swam in great arcs, we passed quite a few that way, only do have them pass us on the next run. There were two long swims close to a mile each and then shorter swims with the shortest, I think, just a few hundred. We wore the very popular Orca orange shorty wetsuit made specially for swimrun. We did not use paddles or pull-buoys - I have a problem holding a pull-buoy between my legs as I’m rather bowlegged. I used Icebug Men’s Acceleritas Ocr RB9X shoes which have super aggressive lugs, which, at first seemed too much for the paved running sections we first had. Later on, we traversed, soft sand, mushy wet slimy sand, small rocks, giant rocks, rocks covered in slime (super slippery), rocks underwater, narrow singletrack surrounded by steamy vegetation, and gravel. Those shoes are the bomb, as they handled the terrain with a surefootedness I have never felt before.
The weather was very nice, perhaps a bit warm and I didn’t take the time to strip down the top of the wetsuit for the longer runs, the longest being about 4.5 miles. It gets a bit slimy inside the wetsuit and I was craving the next swim to cool off. In the long swims, my arms were getting tired and, while not bitter cold (there were spots as cold as 60F but averaging maybe 63), I craved getting out and start running again. This cycle continued throughout. But, the last couple of swims, well, they felt great for about 10 strokes, then I felt like I was spinning my wheels getting nowhere. The encouragement from Heidi and seeing we were passing others in the swim kept me going.
Mistakes we made: Know the long runs and strip out of the wetsuit tops for them. Crummy homemade tether got tangled while carrying it on the runs (you don’t have to be tethered for the runs). It also got tangled several times around my foot, so use floating rope. Prep for the upcoming swim while running - caps, goggles and tether. Start the race a little easier. Maybe use paddles… I’m not sure yet. I hate paddles in the pool as I am slower with them.
Heidi invited me to do this race with her a year ago, just knowing that I have done well in triathlon and swimming. We did some trail races together (she beat me all the time). We did some masters swim meets together (she beats me there, too). In spite of that, she was happy how we did, so much so, she put us on the wait list for Swimrun North Carolina.
Relive it (The time shown in the video cuts out pause time, which includes the slow moving over the most heinous rock scrambles. we finished in 5:34)
https://connect.garmin.com/.../activity/1915913563
So, your Garmin lines show the route but it is hard to tell what the distances are; the total is 24.05 miles but how does that break out between swimming and running??? Can your Garmin tell you your time and distance for the swim portion and for the run???
I had the device in ‘Run’ mode. There were going to be 11 Runs (including the little ‘dash’ up the stairs’ at the end) and 10 swims and my 910 only will hold 10 legs for multisport. Plus, in multisport mode, it won’t connect them all, so I decided to leave it in Run. My Garmin gave really weird swim distances so that total mileage is way off, I think. Or I swam a very significantly larger amount…
Long Course Run Legs Distance-Miles
*start
L Cliff Island 1.41 Rustic road/trail (giagantic log jam of people at the end to go down the little, rocky hill into the water-took 4 min by my watch…)
L Sand Island 0.07 hard sand/rocks (quick walk to get to the other side and back into the water-need to know the tide still)
L Chebeague Island 4.22 island road (+110 ft hill–took 2 miles to feel my numb toes but got hot by the end in a W/S)
L Little Chebeague Isl 0.5 trail
L Long Island (Cleaves) to Nubble 1.42 island road/path
L Vaill Island shoreline 0.5 boulders/loose rock (entire distance is going up/down/rocks and being careful)
L Long Isl (South Beach) to Fowlers Beach 0.85 gravel and island road
L Peaks Island 3.23 shore road and trails (dense trail w roots/rocks/boards/prickers/shrubs–some got lost-had to follow flags)
L Cushings Island 1.14 island road
L House Island 0.66 shore/grass path/loose rock (another 1/4 mile of rock scramble)
14+ miles= Total Long Course Run
Long Course Swim Legs Distance yards
L Cliff Isl to Sand Island 1100 (underappreciated the current pushing from NE to SW-water was VERY cold, 58 degrees-not a lake swim)
L Sand Isl to Chebeague 750 (quickly back in the water after a 400 ft jog across Sand Is-water still cold)
L Chebeague to Little Chebeague 560 -it was a “water run” in 2017
L Little Chebeague to Long Island 640
L Long Island to Andrews Beach 880
L Beach to Vaill Island 270 (* my goggles broke and sank into the ocean at this point-not ideal for my contacts, good to have a partner to give you goggles)
L Vaill to South Beach 430
L/S Fowlers Beach to Peaks Island 1700 11:30AM at Fowlers Beach/Long Island - Mile 11.75
L/S Peaks to Cushings Island 800 1:00PM at Torrington Point/Peaks Island - Mile 15.8
L/S Cushings to House Island 900 (must keep day beacon on point to your right)
L/S House to Peaks Island 680 (very strong cross current with tired arms at this point)
8710 yards= Long Course
And I totally agree that to really race this, one needs equally talented athletes at S and R. I was fortunate that my partner (who swims much faster) and I figured out that if he didn’t use paddles, I could (barely) keep up in his draft and benefit a bit and we were faster together as a team. I simply could not use the arm paddles despite trying frequently in the many months of training, due to weak shoulders from old injuries, but he did practice with them and was much faster with them, but I could not keep up. There was a lot of practice to figure out what WE had to do together to get through this.
During the event, my partner Bobby, reminded me to check out the view several times. Simply beautiful!
a taste of the flavor of the day
https://photosbyaaron.photoshelter.com/...ZcY/G00003GDFjNwJQDY
and link to the article on ST-thanks Herbert!
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Lifestyle/The_2017_SwimRun_USA_Casco_Bay_6505.html
https://connect.garmin.com/.../activity/1915913563
So, your Garmin lines show the route but it is hard to tell what the distances are; the total is 24.05 miles but how does that break out between swimming and running??? Can your Garmin tell you your time and distance for the swim portion and for the run???
I had the device in ‘Run’ mode. There were going to be 11 Runs (including the little ‘dash’ up the stairs’ at the end) and 10 swims and my 910 only will hold 10 legs for multisport. Plus, in multisport mode, it won’t connect them all, so I decided to leave it in Run. My Garmin gave really weird swim distances so that total mileage is way off, I think. Or I swam a very significantly larger amount…
Long Course Run Legs Distance-Miles
*start
L Cliff Island 1.41 Rustic road/trail (giagantic log jam of people at the end to go down the little, rocky hill into the water-took 4 min by my watch…)
L Sand Island 0.07 hard sand/rocks (quick walk to get to the other side and back into the water-need to know the tide still)
L Chebeague Island 4.22 island road (+110 ft hill–took 2 miles to feel my numb toes but got hot by the end in a W/S)
L Little Chebeague Isl 0.5 trail
L Long Island (Cleaves) to Nubble 1.42 island road/path
L Vaill Island shoreline 0.5 boulders/loose rock (entire distance is going up/down/rocks and being careful)
L Long Isl (South Beach) to Fowlers Beach 0.85 gravel and island road
L Peaks Island 3.23 shore road and trails (dense trail w roots/rocks/boards/prickers/shrubs–some got lost-had to follow flags)
L Cushings Island 1.14 island road
L House Island 0.66 shore/grass path/loose rock (another 1/4 mile of rock scramble)
14+ miles= Total Long Course Run
Long Course Swim Legs Distance yards
L Cliff Isl to Sand Island 1100 (underappreciated the current pushing from NE to SW-water was VERY cold, 58 degrees-not a lake swim)
L Sand Isl to Chebeague 750 (quickly back in the water after a 400 ft jog across Sand Is-water still cold)
L Chebeague to Little Chebeague 560 -it was a “water run” in 2017
L Little Chebeague to Long Island 640
L Long Island to Andrews Beach 880
L Beach to Vaill Island 270 (* my goggles broke and sank into the ocean at this point-not ideal for my contacts, good to have a partner to give you goggles)
L Vaill to South Beach 430
L/S Fowlers Beach to Peaks Island 1700 11:30AM at Fowlers Beach/Long Island - Mile 11.75
L/S Peaks to Cushings Island 800 1:00PM at Torrington Point/Peaks Island - Mile 15.8
L/S Cushings to House Island 900 (must keep day beacon on point to your right)
L/S House to Peaks Island 680 (very strong cross current with tired arms at this point)
8710 yards= Long Course
And I totally agree that to really race this, one needs equally talented athletes at S and R. I was fortunate that my partner (who swims much faster) and I figured out that if he didn’t use paddles, I could (barely) keep up in his draft and benefit a bit and we were faster together as a team. I simply could not use the arm paddles despite trying frequently in the many months of training, due to weak shoulders from old injuries, but he did practice with them and was much faster with them, but I could not keep up. There was a lot of practice to figure out what WE had to do together to get through this.
During the event, my partner Bobby, reminded me to check out the view several times. Simply beautiful!
a taste of the flavor of the day
https://photosbyaaron.photoshelter.com/...ZcY/G00003GDFjNwJQDY
and link to the article on ST-thanks Herbert!
http://www.slowtwitch.com/…_Casco_Bay_6505.html
DT, thanks for the detailed report!!! Sounds like this race was pretty balanced between swim and run, with about 14 miles of hilly running and about 5 miles of swimming. Sounds like my kind of race but I’d have to find a partner. Thanks again!!!
Without a doubt our course in Casco Bay Islands favors strong open water swimmers. 5+ miles of swimming is quite the challenge when taking into account all of the difficult conditions teams face. Cold water, strong currents, potential for fog, rocky entry/exit points and sections of seaweed all make it a beast! There are also no short swims, with the shortest being just under 500 yards.
We added run mileage to the course this year on the biggest island on the course, Big Chebeague, and that helped the better runners make up some time. We received excellent reception to the Long Course so not likely we will change it too much for 2018.
Come on out and join us next year!
I use a Suunto and, like you, placed it in Run mode for the entire race. My Suunto, when swimming, can tell what stroke you do and when you flip turn. If it’s that smart, I don’t see why it couldn’t automatically know when you switch from run to swim and back as you race, without any user intervention. I’m sure it’s just programming. I sent the request into Suunto months ago… no response.
Our capacity was 110 teams (2 people/team) for the Long Course and 100 teams for the Short Course. We are limited due to the max capacity of each of the ferries we use to transport racers out to their respective starting islands.
Long Course race started on Cliff Island, home of 1984 Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson. It crossed between and over nine (9) islands: Cliff, Sand, Chebeague, Little Chebeague, Long, Vaill, Peaks, Cushing and House.
Short Course race started on Long Island and crossed four (4) islands: Long, Peaks, Cushing and House.
Water temps were in the low 60’s in most spots. A few spots on course were colder, possibly high 50’s. Currents were not too strong for the faster Long Course racers but starting in early afternoon the wind picked up and the crossings between Cushing to House and House to Peaks got very choppy.
Awards were provided to Top 3 teams in each of the following categories in both Long and Short Course races: Mixed Team, Men’s Team and Women’s Team. Awards were nicely painted and appropriately labelled lobster buoys, omnipresent in the waters of Casco Bay.
A short race highlight video should be ready sometime today for more sights and sounds.
LF