After another bumper weekend of our members racing, we have a race report from Steve for his first go at a Swimrun event, taking on the Great North Endurance Swimrun. Another epic achievement by Steve and Mike coming 5th overall, in what sounds like a tough day out. Here is the report in Steve’s words:
Having done many different run and triathlon distances. I thought I would dip my toe into the world of Swimrun and what better way to do it than to enter the ‘Endurance’ one in the lake district!! How wrong could I have been? With this event and also the middle distance you need to pair up with a partner who is equally as bonkers as you are. So, with that in mind, I recruited the services of Michael Osinksi-Grey who’s athletic prowess dwarfs mine. What could go wrong?
The event starts with a 1170m swim from Brockhole across the lake to Low Wray, just imagine the washing machine swim start we all have experienced in triathlon and then factor in the addition of trail trainers and bungie tethers holding the pairs together. Now that was an experience. It wasn’t long before we managed to get into some clear water and get into a good rhythm. At this point I had never experienced a swell in a lake, obviously due to some larger boats going past but watching Mike appear and disappear was a new experience for me. We got to the other side in a good time, took a minute to steady ourselves and embarked on our first run stage which was a 4 mile, slightly undulating trail run (752ft). We began to make some ground on some of the quicker swimmers, overtaking several pairs on this leg. Then next swim was much shorter at just under 400m. What a refreshing experience after running in a wetsuit in what was turning out to be one of the hottest days in the year. The swim done, wetsuit stripped to the waist, we were off on the next and longest run of 6.25 miles. We settled into this well and took our time on any of the hills we encountered. Another great swim awaited as we neared the steeper part of the run course. The next 5 mile section took on a whole different feel, hot and extremely hilly is the only description I can give it and we finally arrived at Grasmere for again what was a relatively short but welcome swim. A short run over from Grasmere and straight into Rydal. Lots of support for the walkers with loads of them stopping us to ask what event we were doing. If I’m honest I welcomed the rest as by this point I was really flagging as the heat and elevation was taking it’s toll. From Rydal, the run once again goes vertical at which point my calfs felt like they were exploding, but we soldiered on with a combination of walking and running. A short swim again in Windermere we were back on the east side of the lake with our final run looming. Had this run not been through a heavily populated are with people cheering you on, I fear I would have just curled up into a ball, whimpering to myself. But, we forged on to our final ‘choppy’ 800m swim to the finish. Would I do it again? Maybe. Would I train for it differently? Definitely. Also, a massive thanks to Mike who managed to drag me round when the going got really tough. On the day, several teams pulled out enroute, a total of 19 teams finished and I can proudly say we finished in 5th place. Happy with that.
Excellent work both, you smashed it and looks like all of the swim run training on a Thursday night helped out! Once again you are an inspiration to us all, and Steve is even taking on the Lakesman half this coming weekend. What a machine!
