Of all the places I thought I would go chasing Swimrun I wouldn’t have guessed Edmonton or that I'd end up happy about it. Strange days.
A late addition to my race calendar and the farthest destination on the regional circuit had me unsure of what was waiting for me. The spirit of the season was to “just go” and, still in a good groove following Sweden, I hopped a flight.
One of the best parts of the WCSR project has been getting involved more than just doing the event. I get to meet the race directors, help on-course and get a deeper feel for the grassroots vibe of this sport. Race director Jason is a veteran of the Ötillö championship event and eager to bring the feel of that race to his hometown and the lush river valley is the perfect setting. Winding 18km along forested riverside trails with a few surprises along the way coupled with 6km of downriver swimming the Edmonton course offered a unique challenge.
Arriving Saturday night I picked up my race package, ate a quick dinner and got the rundown for the following morning. We’d be up and out the door well before sunrise to set up course flags and the start/finish area. I’m rarely well-rested on raceday but as I rolled over to punch my alarm after 3hrs sleep I knew today would require some extra effort. We hoisted the last few flags as sunshine began pouring into the valley, driving away the fog and clouds of mosquitoes as racers began arriving.
A collection of triathletes and sports enthusiasts assembled for the pre-race and countdown to the start.
The first run took us up a steady climb onto a single track descent to the river. A solo men’s entry leaned into the hill and raised his pace, I held with him and we left the pack behind. I held hard to his heels to crest the hill and we swapped positions on the drop back down to the river. We broke the treeline side by side but I transitioned at a run and launched headfirst into the swim and the lead.
Leaving the water and scrambling up the riverbank I leaned into the run and pressured myself to set a winning pace.
This is the only event I’ve done featuring river swimming. The current adds an X-factor to the swims that I really enjoyed, managing your position in the river current to get the best swim speeds and still hit the exit points. I made mistakes in the second swim and nearly got swept past the exit which would have cost a lot of time getting back on course.
The trails of this race vary from packed earth, gravel road, and paved surfaces with dry and fast conditions in the sun and some slick technical muddy sections weaving through the trees. I was wearing mud lug running shoes I’d brought home from Sweden and they saved me from several slips through the day.
We’d been given collapsible bottles to hydrate with but knowing I had Ironmen and women chasing me down I barely broke my stride to get a sip of electrolytes and a bite to eat. Most of my nutrition was what I had packed in my suit and ate on the run.
Running alone in a race is terrible for me, it's the worst in the lead, everyone is catching you and there’s no time to rest. I admit it, I get a bit paranoid. On the long run I kept hearing footsteps and rattling gear behind me, I was convinced someone would go charging past me any minute. Fatigue was setting in and a lazy toe caught on a root and planted my face gracefully into the dirt, I feel like it might have snapped me out of it a bit as I bounced quickly back to my feet and kept on running.
When I hit the final swim I was less than 2km from the finish and told myself “if you make it out of the water with a gap, you can relax a little.” I attacked the swim and hauled myself up the bank, looking back across the river and expecting a flotilla of other racers ready to chase me all the way to the line but instead I saw empty river. I gave myself a reprieve from race-pace and ran out the final segment, crossing the finish line grinning ear to ear.
Solo and team entrants alike finished with smiles to the applause friends, volunteers and fellow racers - a food truck arrived to feed us and trophies were presented and Global News showed up to do a few interviews for the evening news.
The Edmonton Swimrun exceeded every expectation I had, it is a well-run, scenic and challenging event with unique features and surprises - I recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone wanting a real swimrun experience and hope to return for it even stronger in 2020, and bringing some friends along for the ride.
Registration for SwimrunYEG 2020 has now opened, grab a friend and go sign up!
Swimrun Gear - Nu Complements
Running Shoes - Acceleritas7 by Icebug
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