Coniston Swimrun – Daniel King

Legend has it that Swimrun originated in 2002 in Sweden. The story goes that the brothers Matt and Jesper Andersson, Anders Malm and Janne Lindber - the "original 4", sat around a table drinking beer. They were playing with a napkin with a map of the area and debating how far it was possible to travel up the Stockholm archipelago. They then created an endurance challenge stretching 75 km of runs and swims, and Swimrun ÖTILLÖ, which literally means "island to island" in Swedish, was born.

The event format appeals as I live in The Lakes and trail run and swim all year round. There are a few Swimrun events in The Lakes, but they have clashed with other events (usually long-distance triathlon and ultra running) I have been doing. Then, a few weeks ago, a friend mentioned that the Coniston Swimrun event was coming up and asked… Was I interested..!? At that point, the event was ten days away, and three distances were available: Full (45km), Sprint (21.1km) or Short (12.3km) course.

Initially, I flip-flopped between marshalling and entering the Full, as a fully paid-up member of the aphorism "whatever does not kill you, makes you stronger." by the end of the day, I entered the Full event. The five aid stations/checkpoints might have also been a decision factor. One aspect of the endurance events I love is the "sweet-n-biscuit-buffet". The Coniston Full course is raced in pairs or solo. Pairs will be tethered together in the water, which allows the stronger swimmer to lead in the swim. If you are solo, you have a mandatory tow float requirement.

A week later, I started thinking about the gear I would need. Swimrun suits are designed specifically for swimrun competitions, adapting to the needs of both running and swimming. They provide limited buoyancy around the legs and hips without limiting freedom of movement when running. They also seem to have a few extra pockets and integrated whistles. A quick impulse purchase (<£100) later, I had a suit on the way.

In addition to the Swimrun suit, you can use hand paddles and pull buoy, but these must be carried or strapped to your body while running. These help in swimming, as although there are neoprene panels to help with flotation while swimming in your Swimrun suit, you are not as buoyant as you might be when wearing a full open water wetsuit, as you will also be wearing trail shoes, which create drag and sink your legs. I also ordered mid-sized hand paddles, a large (40 Newton) swim buoy, and a tow float with shoulder straps.

Once all the gear had arrived, I could have a few test swims in Coniston Water the week before the event. On the positive side, the suit fitted perfectly, and I loved the mobility. However, I was surprised by the amount of drag created by wearing shoes. My Ironman wetsuit pace might be 1:55s/100M for the first few km, but my Swimrun suit times were closer to 2:20s/100M. No problem, I thought, using paddles would improve the pace.

Leading up to the event, I had created a route video and sent it to the organisers; during the email discussion, I also volunteered to help with the route marking.

On Saturday, the day before the event, I headed up to Grassmere to register, as it would be an early start on Sunday. I was catching the coach at 6:30 am to take us to the Full start at Brown Howe, near the southern end of Coniston Water.

Around 2 pm on Saturday, I was given my route markers and course I was due to mark. The A593 (Clappers Gate) to Check Point 5, next to Rydal Water. Just over 4 km but its one of the more technical, hilly sections of the end-to-end route. I had to hike it twice to ensure I used my markers effectively, and it provided a great way to remind myself of the area and route. Also, the perfect opportunity to walk the "Wolf".

Finally, race day (Sunday, 24 September) . Up at 4 am and usual endurance breakfast – porridge, banana, almonds and some protein yoghurt. Home to Grasmere is about 50 minutes and already I could see the conditions would be interesting. There was a lot of standing water and branches on the drive, raining and windy.

We boarded the coach at Stock Lane car park in Grasmere, great location with large brick toilets. Almost no lighting in the car park. Getting all my gear on and ready, in the rain and pitch black at 5:45 am was interesting, next time (plot spoiler) I need to remember to bring a headlamp. Other racers started to arrive and misery loves company, which helped calm the nerves. The organisation was good, a race marshall arrived and the coach was slowly boarded.

While on the coach, I could check out peoples (swim) gear. Straight away I realised my tow float was oversized, and bigger is not better for this type of event. Its about 35 minutes by coach to the start and we had a stop in Ambleside to pick up more racers. Red swim caps for duos, orange swim caps for solos.

We arrived at Brown Howe car park around 07:30 am, more racers were already at the start, and we had a great time chatting with fellow competitors. The demographics seemed equally split between veteran swimrun athletes and swimrun first-timers who typically do endurance and Ironman events. Huddled together for photos and, at least for me, false smiles.

Some worried faces too, maybe a few silent prayers. I might have been willing to pray to a deity myself, I guess Poseidon might be a good option. A few minutes to go, and I needed a wee along with several others. Too late now, apologies to anyone behind me in the first swim – mental note don't drink the lake water while swimming early on in a swimrun.

08:00 am GO TIME… The race begins. We all stumbled in the water and headed to the opposite bank. Already I could see a significant gap opening with some fast swimming duos flying through the water. I started drafting a duo, and almost immediately, they stopped, I swam into the shoes of the second swimmer and pulled my goggles off my face. They were tangled in their teether and needed time to sort themselves.

A short time later, we were on the other side and out of the water, really glad to get the first swim out of the way, and now it was a run section to the next swim point. Overall, we swam Coniston Water three times for 2.5 km, just over a third of the total swim distance. Eventually, we arrived at the top of Coniston Water for Check Point 1 and the start of the longest run section (14.5 km), which headed up to Grizedale Forest and Moor Top car park (Check Point 2), before heading to Far Sawry (Check Point 3) and up and over to Windermere.

The Coniston to Rydal run section is particularly awesome; it combines fire trails, forest tracks, and fell tops. The entire route combines elements of the Montane Grizedale Marathon, Lakeland 50 and Lakes In a Day, marathon and ultra running events.

The aid stations were basic but functional - two containers with water and electrolytes to refill your soft bottle or reusable cup. Food was sweets, gels, bananas and jaffa cakes. Every checkpoint, swim entry, and exit point had enthusiastic volunteers, smiling faces, and vocal encouragement, which really helps your motivation. As you share the latter parts of the Full route with the Short and Sprint distances, you run with other distance competitors and can encourage each other.

Entering Windermere's last swim, my shoulders struggled to cope with the continued use of paddles. That was the last time I used them, I need to spend much more time working with them if I plan to do more Swimrun events and want to use them. The swim safety for all swims was excellent.

After Windermere. a 5 km run from Clappers Gate to Rydal Water (Checkpoint 5) next, up along the side of Loughrigg Fell. This was the run section that I marked the previous day, a fact I pointed out to anyone I ran with during this section, sorry. 😊

Rydal Water next, an easy swim in relatively shallow water. At this point, I am 45 km into the course, and it is the first time in any endurance event that I want it to just END! The amount of trail running in wind and rain, along with entering and exiting the water for 9 swims in total, was taking its toll. My shoulders were shot, and it turns out there are places where even large quantities of swim lubricant will not protect in these events. My feet were ok, I used lightweight trail running shoes (Inov8 G210), Injinji Merino socks which are tried and tested for me in very wet ultra-running events in The Lakes. But… Between Rydal and Grasmere, I still managed to smile for the photographer, just one of the many times I saw someone taking photos.

The last swim was the hardest of the day, 800m across a windy Grassmere. It's deeper water so it felt cold, but I was already running on empty. It was my slowest swim, and I spent ages chatting with the marshalls at the entry and exit to the swim.

Finally, I reached the end in Grasmere village at Tweedies Bar and Lodge. Smiles, medal, tee-shirt, drinks and snacks. Mostly, at least for me, relief it was finally over. Nothing really hurt, just a few aches in my shoulders and arms. My Garmin watched showed a total distance of 49 km (41.8 km trail running, 7 km swimming), which matches a few fellow athletes Strava results. Total moving time of 7h 44m, and final fnishing place of 11th.

Would I do another swimrun event? Yes, absolutely. The freedom of running and swimming was a joy, enjoying the incredible Lake District scenery in a unique way. What would I change? I'd practice my swim transitions more, use hand paddles over prolonged periods and not just in the pool for basic drills, and carry a far smaller tow float, only needed if you will solo the course. Also, most of the fast athletes were using Ark pull buoys, which are larger and more streamlined than regular pull buoys - I plan to invest in one of those, too.