Ultra swimruns are endurance events to rival Ironman triathlons or ultra marathons, with over 9K of open water swimming in some cases and races taking up to 14 hours to complete. The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship, for example, is a touch under 70K in total, with 46 transitions between swimming to islands and running across them.
Swimrunning is a unique endurance sport where competitors move between swimming and running with no kit transitions, remaining in their wetsuit and trainers throughout the whole thing. There will be multiple sections of both disciplines, so getting used to running while wet and swimming in shoes is essential!
Most events require competitors to enter in teams of two, often physically linked by a long cord. The majority of running will be off-road and the swimming will simply depend on location, from rivers to the open sea.
Your kit list should include:
- A wetsuit, which can often be specific swimrunning, i.e. with shorter arms and legs.
- Goggles and a swim cap (many organisers will provide the latter).
- Running shoes (make sure they drain well!)
- A tow float (many organisers will require this for safety).
- Hand paddles, which increase the surface area of your hand to help rest your legs for running (optional).
- A pull buoy, for the same purpose as the hand paddles (optional).
- A tow line, to connect partners together (optional).
The long-distance nature of ultra swimruns means that they dive into the great outdoors in a much more immersive way than other events, taking competitors to spectacular locations in the UK and across the world.
If you are searching for a unique endurance challenge, you can stop looking.
