“Excuse me, can I ask what is going on here? You all have very strange outfits?” enquired an old lady walking her dog. She was right: hundreds of people, wearing trainers, neoprene shorty wetsuits, swim caps and googles was a disturbing sight at 8.00am on a Sunday morning. We were all getting ready to start the Authieman swimrun. Originally from Sweden, swimrun is one of the fastest growing outdoor endurance sports. Participants complete a course alternating running and open water swimming section. As a person who loves both sports I had to give it a go. And who better to do it with me than with my sister?
For our first swimrun we decided to compete on the sprint format “Estran” of the Authieman swimrun, on the coast of the Somme in the north of France, 1h drive from Calais. In our case, we covered a total of 13km of running + 3km of swimming over 8 different sections.
Swimrun is mainly a team sport with many formats only allowing participation in teams but we signed-up as individuals, just in case one of us had to drop out . On the day we stayed together and run as a team to make it more fun.
A sprint swimrun across four waters
As the horn blasted on this Sunday morning of June, 700 participants started running on the beach to reach the first swim section 700m away. I was quite apprehensive: I had done zero sea training (all my swim experience comes from lakes, reservoirs or river swims) and the sea was clearly choppy.
Hundreds of swimmers were fighting the incoming tide and the waves to reach the first buoy. You get kicked in the ribs and have to fight not to be swam over. I made it around after what left an eternity, relieved to have completed this first tough swim. Sister emerged less than 30 seconds later and we started our long run on the beach.
We jogged back to the start line and dived into the outdoor pool used the previous day for the kids swim run for a short rinse off. Then followed a long run along the beach and a couple of swim section in more sheltered bays before leaving the Northern sea behind and reaching the first food station. We didn’t stop long and made our way to the sand dunes.
Our legs felt heavy in the soft sand, our progress was slow but the fantastic backdrop of the natural reserve made it really enjoyable. We were all smiles and passed a few competitors on the longer run section.
Next was a river swim, I was looking forward to it and to be able to settle in a good swimming pace. Shortly after entering the water it became clear we had to fight the tide and we were getting nowhere. “Hand paddles would have been useful” I thought. Such accessories are allowed for swimrun and help you to apply more power. We covered almost a kilometre in the river and I exited the water with a big sight of relief, as I had became really cold during that section.
The next running section guided us to the final of the 4 waters of the day. After the sea, the pool and the river, it was time to enjoy the calm and warmer waters of the lakes. The end was in sight. The last part was fast and fun, combining several really short swim and run sections. I heard the spectators cheering, including our mum yelling “Amandine!”.
Swimrun: a fun and challenging adventure sport
Sister and I crossed the finish line after 2h28min, ecstatic! We had the time of our life and decided on the spot we wanted to race another swimrun. We celebrated the day as you do it in the north, with a big plate of “moules-frites” i.e. mussels and fries.
A quick check on the results later show that we managed to finish #5 and #6 females out of 14. With no specific training and having raced an half ironman on previous week-end, I was chuffed by this achievement. We could make a strong team if we wanted to be more competitive in the future :-).
I loved that you really get to explore closely an area from different point of views like a true “exploration” sport. Each race is different and with a limited number of rules. You will need to be a fairly experienced open water swimmer to take on the conditions safely but if you are in for a bit of an adventure, I can only recommend to give this sport a try.
About the Authieman swimruns
The Authieman event was really well organised and it was refreshing to participate in an event that is a bit more “low key”, less commercial and eco responsible. All profits of the event go to local projects and the organisation works hard to minimise the impact of the event on the environment.
In addition to the sprint format, you can also race on a medium or long format with the full Authieman covering 35km run + 5km swim. All distances allow you to swim in various bodies of water and to enjoy one of the most preserved bay in Europe, home of seals and plenty of marine life.
If you enjoyed this article why not checking out my article about cold water swimming or some of my recent challenges.
