Episode Details

Welcome to episode eighty-two of the Löw Tide Böyz - A Swimrun Podcast!

In this episode, we’re joined by Lars Finanger, Brent Molsberry, and Brooke Lindsley (of the Swimrun Labs) for our detailed course preview of Ödyssey Swimrun’s Orcas Island event. We’re super stoked for this event and think that you will also be super stoked about it after hearing this episode.

Programming note: We are tying a bit of a new format for this course preview. I.e., we are going to try to be a bit more concise. As ever, we would love to hear your feedback on this episode to let us know if it’s a thumbs up or thumbs down.

KILLER WHALE ISLAND DOESN’T SOUND AS NICE 

Taking place on Orcas Island, Washington, Ödyssey Swimrun sets up an amazing course in the Pacific Northwest that has been on our bucket list since the race was first announced a few year’s back. The Ödyssey website describes the race as follows: “Crisp inland lake swims, hauntingly beautiful forest trail runs, big mountain climbs, and stunning scenery around every turn makes this an instant fall classic.” Uhm, they had us at “crisp.”

Course designer and race director Brent Molsberry was cool enough to share his thoughts on the course and the Orcas Island region.

Traveling to Orcas Island is pretty tricky so we asked Brent to share with us all the logistics that participants will want to have lined up well before race day.

The moral of the story here is book your travel to either Seattle or Bellingham, your lodging on Orcas Island, and definitely plan to book your ferry ticket when they become available.

MT. CONSTITUTION SOUNDS FUN (Leg By Leg Course Breakdown)

As with our previous course preview episodes, we recommend having a copy of the course map handy so you can follow along and start visualizing what you can expect on race day. That being said, as with a lot of Swimrun events, the distances are approximate and might change on race day so be prepared for that.

Here are the main stats for Orcas Island: the long course is a total of 24.25 miles with 3.5 miles of swimming and around 6,110ft of elevation gain. The short course is a total of 12.30 miles with 2 miles of swimming and around 2,152ft of gain.

To tee up the leg by leg Breakdown, Lars Finanger shares with us an overview of both the long and short courses.

Lars also shared some extra details about the start and finish location of this year’s race, signage on the course, and aid station fixin’.

Annotated Long Course Leg Breakdown:

R1: Rosario Resort Race Start (1.05 miles)

• Prepare for hills from the get go and hills along the entire course
• The section is very technical so take it easy

S1: Cascade Bay Swim (275m/300yds)

• This will be the only ocean swim on the course and it will be super cold
• Make sure you are warmed up going into the swim
• Consider wearing ear plugs and an extra swim cap that you can stash afterwards or dispose at the next aid station

R2: Rosario to Cascade Lake (.9 miles)

• “Chill” run
• It’s a big uphill when you get out of the water at the start

S2: Cascade Lake Swim #1 (290m/317yds)

R3: Cascade Lake Perimeter (.75 miles)

S3: Cascade Lake Swim #2 (850m/930yds)

• Second longest swim of the day

R4: Cascade Lake Perimeter (.35 miles)

• 10ish foot cliff jump into S4

S4: Cascade Lake Swim #3 (515m/563yds)

R5: Cascade Lake to Mountain Lake (2.5 miles)

S5: Mountain Lake Swim #1 (885m/968yds)

• Longest swim of