Two Triathletes Try SwimRun (and why you should too!)

In today’s Find Your Edge podcast episode, Chris Newport and her teammate Josh, both experienced triathletes, decided to try their hands at a new multisport event: SwimRun. In fact, since their bikes were going to be left at home, and Josh is a big Beatles fan, we named our team “While Our Bikes Gently Weep.”

SwimRun History

SwimRun is a newer multisport event, starting in 2002 after “4 drunk Swedes” challenged each other. Learn more about the history here. SwimRun is done by teams of two people, where they complete multiple segments of swimming and running, often with various levels of difficulty.

SwimRun Lake James

We completed the SwimRun Lake James short course, which was a total of 8 run sections and 7 swim sections for approximately 10 miles of trail running, 1250ft of elevation gain, and 2.7 miles of swimming. The longest swim section was 1300yds, and the longest run section was 5.5 miles. The race was at the end of April, which made swim training difficult, between open water swimming in cold water and COVID-19 pool restrictions.

SwimRun Gear Challenges

Since you’re required to carry everything on your person, SwimRun presents some unique gear challenges.

Josh drilling holes into our sunglasses to rig them up for swimming during SwimRun

Here’s some of what we worked through:

Josh wears glasses, so we talk about how he was able to “rig” his prescription goggles and sunglasses in order to carry them the entire time, which involved a drill. In the meantime, Chris had zero leaks with her favorite Snake and Pig goggles, despite putting them on and off seven times. You can purchase them here.
Wetsuits are required the entire time, and must be cut off at the knees. Hear what Josh thought about training for running in a wetsuit.
Swimming with shoes is not as easy as it sounds and should definitely be practiced.
Using a tether: the race requires teammates to stay within 10m of each other at all times. We used a tether to stay together during swim segments, which was interesting to work through the logistics of where to hook it and how to most effectively use it without excessively altering our strokes.
Pull buoys and paddles are allowed. Josh opted to carry paddles.
Carrying nutrition: while Josh had one pocket in his wetsuit, we had to rely on aid stations due to the difficulty of carrying bottles, electrolytes and other types of food in the water.

While 59 degree water was certainly cold, it affected Chris more than Josh. Listen to her unique approach to convincing herself that she was hot.

Their next adventure will be in November at SwimRunNC here, which involves a more technical run course and faster swim course. In fact, they’re incorporating rock climbing into their training routines for variety, challenge, and upper body strength. Wish them luck!

Want to give it a try? Just be sure that you have a partner who is similar in fitness and that you appropriately test all your gear. It’s a great test of teamwork, trail running, open water swimming, adventure, and challenge.