Location: Peaks Island, Maine, United States
Distance: 5+ miles of swimming, 18 miles running
Island Magic
Ödyssey SwimRun Casco Bay Islands was the first official swimrun event in North America when it debuted in 2016. Four years later in 2019, nearly 400 athletes from 32 states and 6 countries raced in what could now be considered a historic (North America’s longest running!) swimrun.
The race starts on Peaks Island, which is one of ten islands in Casco Bay the course showcases. Peaks is just a few miles and a short ferry ride from the city of Portland, Maine. Portland, though quite small as cities go, feels like a bustling urban metropolis compared to the relaxed endless summer vibes of the islands. This scenic corner of New England has a “feels like home” sense about it. Maybe I say that because the spirit of this event is imbued with the energy and pride of locals who have gotten behind the race and contributed access to, literally, their homes and the surrounding land and beaches that much of the course covers. The majority of these islands are privately owned, generously shared for one day with swimrunners coming from all corners of the globe to intimately experience this unique setting. There is something special about knowing the ground underfoot is a treasured home base to someone.
Jeff Cole, co-founder of Swimrun USA, passed away in 2018. Odyssey Swimrun Casco Bay Islands (Cole Classic) is dedicated to his memory.
Jeff-Send
Brooke and I communicate at every swim transition in order to ensure we’re both ready to hit the water. We could stick to the effective but entirely un-creative: “Ready?”… “Ready.”
But that’s not our style. From our very first swimrun and every one since we have decided pre-race on a phrase to use as our “ready” command in swim transitions. The Casco Bay Swimrun was founded by the late Jeff Cole, a visionary and well loved Mainer who passed away suddenly in 2018 just a few months before the 2018 race. Since then the race has been renamed the Cole Classic in Jeff’s honor. We know that Jeff’s spirit swims in the waves of Casco Bay, and we dedicated our race effort in 2018 and again this year to Jeff’s legacy. We celebrated each moment of triumph, joy, and magic on the course not with the exclamation that it was a “godsend,” but rather that it was a “Jeffsend,” as we strongly felt his spirit guiding us and the other racers. So this year, instead of the boring old “ready?” “ready.” Brooke and I shouted at each swim transition: “Jeff!”…”Send!” before diving into the waves.
We earned the nickname "mountain goat girls" on course as we yo-yo'd with nearby teams passing us on the swims and us dancing past them once we hit the scrambly technical shoreline runs.
Race Goals
This season we trained specifically to improve our agility and speed on the rocky beach scrambles, studied the currents to avoid adding unnecessary distance and effort to our swims (or worse: get swept out to sea forever!), and most importantly developed a plan to stay well fueled and hydrated to support our best effort. We knew that in a race of this length running and swimming were only two out of three disciplines: the third was fueling. I am famous for blowing through aid stations without stopping when I’m in race mode, and because of that I had very specific guidelines for each aid station that boiled down to: STOP. EAT. DRINK. Did we stick to our plan and meet our goals? ***Spoiler Alert*** Yes! No bonking for Team Swimrun Labs! We did our best speedy twinkle toe dance over the rocky shorelines, and passed many teams during these technical runs. And, thankfully, we did not get swept out to sea.
Vail island has two things: super technical rocky shoreline, and poison ivy. Watch your step!
Highs and Lows
Highs
- The first swim from Peaks to Cushing- glassy, calm, lit with the golden light of morning sun, and a fun day of racing and endless possibility ahead of us.
- The enthusiasm and generosity of all the locals lining the course, volunteering at aid stations, cheering from their porches, sending their kids out with cups of lemonade for the racers, and generally making us feel deeply lucky to be running by them at any given moment.
- Finishing strong: our last run was our fastest run split of the day. Which would explain why it hurt so much.
Lows
- Sand in my shoes. I got more and more sand in my shoes as the race progressed, and stubbornly refused to waste a minute stopping to empty it until it just became too much. I was smuggling half the beach from one island to the other in my SHOES. A necessary but unfortunate 3 minutes spent untying my triple knotted shoes and dumping out the sand was all that separated us from a podium spot in the final results. #regrets
- Near catastrophe when the ripping currents on the last swim were stronger than we bargained for. Brooke made it easily around the bow of a sizeable lobster boat on the lead end of the tow rope, however two strokes later when I reached the boat the current had already begun to sweep me towards the stern. Still on tow, and in a moment of panic I managed to latch on to the bow with both arms and haul myself around, narrowly avoiding our towline (and maybe us) being swept beneath the hull. YIKES.
Gear and Food
BEST GEAR: We had been testing and tweaking our kit and tether/stow systems for weeks leading up to this race. One key piece of gear that really helped us crack the code of storing paddles, fuel, and hydration while racing was the Nu Lapa Bra. This piece is a game changer! It’s a bra with pockets! More details in our complete product review, but suffice to say we were turning heads and taking names once the other women in the race saw how we utilized this incredible piece of swimrun kit. We even talked to a few men who said they’d wear one.
BEST AID STATION ITEM: Odyssey Swimruns have become famous in our book for the world class PB&J sandwiches that stock the aid stations. This charmed combo of glucose, protein, complex carbs, fat, and tasty digestibility has become a staple for our training missions, and we think it is simply the best fuel for swimrunning out there. No frills. I was proud to consume 3 entire sandwiches while on course… nearly as proud as I was of our race result. Bonk I did not, that’s for sure.
This race was a stunning journey through dynamic currents, kelp forests, beach scrambles, densely wooded trails fragrant with spruce and pine, and island communities that generously welcomed an enthusiastic parade of swimrunnners for a day. What a day it was, we couldn’t have had a better experience with this well organized and incredibly beautiful race. We felt the entire day was a blast and a blessing. From the moment the gun went off to the moment we crossed the line, and for every moment thereafter till we slept that night: we smiled.
Casco Bay, we will be back!
FINISH: 18th overall, 4th females, 6:04:01
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