The organizers of ÖTILLÖ, the original race of the rapidly growing sport of swimrun, will host the first ever event in Germany, at the Mecklenburger Seenplatte in the North-East of the country. The first edition of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes will be held on Sunday 23 October 2016, with a shorter version, the ÖTILLÖ Sprint 1000 Lakes held on Saturday 22 October.
ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes is part of the ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Series and a qualifier to the prestigious ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship. The course is approximately 45km in total, with a mix of trail running and open water swimming from Wesenberg to Rheinsberg. Athletes can expect a ‘fast and beautiful course with tough competition among some of the world’s strongest swimrunners’.
The teams will battle for the first eight qualifying spots for the 2017 edition of ÖTILLÖ Swimrun World Championship, which takes place in the Stockholm archipelago on 4 September 2017.
Fans can follow the race with live tracker and social media on race day, 23 October 2016 via: www.otilloswimrun.com/live.
A total of 360 competitors from 20 nations will be racing at the first edition of ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes in teams of two in the three categories Men, Mixed, and Women. According to the organising team, this is the biggest number ever for an inaugural ÖTILLÖ race.
The concept of ÖTILLÖ organizers and founders of the sport swimrun, Mats Skott and Michael Lemmel (SWE), is to organize unique races in unique places. The ÖTILLÖ Swimrun 1000 Lakes is no exception. With its rural landscape the course looks very different from other ÖTILLÖ races; yet, should be ‘just as beautiful in an area with over 3 000 pristine lakes, surrounded by colourful beech tree forests in the magnificent autumn light’.
The forests are full of trails on soft ground; it is flat, which means that teams will push hard to be as fast as possible. The expected time for the first finishers is just over five hours.
The course is approximately 45 km with 35 km trail running and 10 km swimming for 12 different runs and 11 different swims. That means 22 changes between running and swimming. There is no time to lose for athletes, who run in their wetsuits and swim in their shoes. The athletes need to master the run/swim transitions to keep the pace. The water temperature will not be warmer than around 13-15 degrees. ‘Some swims are long and it will be cold. On the other hand the runs are fast and protected from wind in the forest. The competitors must be able to adapt to ever changing temperatures!’
