One of the most fun events on the calendar, the Glencairn Swimrun is back on the 24-26th of Feb 2023 with great courses, and plenty of cool afternoon activities to make it a great weekend away with friends or family!
Swimrun continues to gain popularity around the world. A unique combination of running and swimming, swimruns are made up of multiple swims and runs, with no transitions, so the kit you start with is the kit you finish in; you swim in your shoes and you run in your wetsuit, if it’s a cold water swim. Started in 2006 after a 2003 bet saw friends swim and run for 26 hours between pubs, the Otillo Swimrun is held annually in Sweden and is widely considered to be the original swimrun.
The Glencairn Swimrun location
What better location for a swimrun than at Glencairn Farm in the southern Drakensberg, where crisp mountain air, rolling hills, rugged climbs and refreshing dams, form the ultimate swimrun course? Glencairn is well known as the starting point of the KAP sani2c mountain bike stage race, boasting facilities to comfortably host hundreds of mountain bikers.
Routes on offer at Glencairn Swimrun
Glencairn Swim Run was first held in 2019, and again in 2020, and after a two-year hiatus, the team at Glencairn are gearing up for another weekend of fun and games on 24-26 February. This is a two-day event, with two different versions to choose from: ‘The Toad’ has 20kms of running and 4 swims on day 1 (no swim at Glencairn is longer than 300m), and 15kms of running and 6 swims on day 2. ‘The Tadpole’ distances are an 8km run and 4 swim, on both days.
Matt Keenan will be back this year with his wife Jess: “We do the Swim Run because it’s a lot of fun. I NEVER swim, and I run only once a week or so, but what I love about this event is that none of the swims are that far, so you don’t need to be an expert swimmer, and the swims break the run up quite nicely. As soon as you start getting hot and tired you jump into the cold water of the dam.”
How the racing works
Unlike most swimruns, where teams of two take part, Glencairn Swim Run is an individual’s race, and participants can opt to be part of the ‘Unofficial Club World Champs’ for teams of five people, with their times tallied for overall points. This tends to add a huge ‘gees’ element, with lots of storytelling over a drink afterwards.
Trish Eksteen has been at the sharp end of Glencairn Swim Run, winning the event one year and coming second the next. She is a coach at Adventure Obstacle Training or AOT, and says she is not an excellent swimmer so has to run like hell to catch up with the triathletes and swimmers when they get onto the soil again: “The swim takes me forty thousand hours but they are not actually very long swims, and it is excellent training for triathletes. We always have such a great time, it’s just so beautiful there and everyone has such a jol.”
Other things to do at Glencairn Swimrun
After the morning’s exertion, you can relax on the grass playing cards, enjoy the waterslide, play touch rugby or just take in the spectacular views of the mountains. Accommodation at Glencairn ranges from large canvas tents with mattresses (or bring your own tent), to luxury tents with beds, and comfortable cottages.
Experience the thrill of swimrun, and a proper fun getaway in the mountains, sign up for Glencairn Swim Run at www.glencairnswimrun.co.za
