The main race started on Saturday at 08:52, and what a day we got! A participant record by some margin in both the competitive and the recreation class.
This year’s course and venue count as the complete arena swimrun experience. With the restaurant, toilets and showers right next to the start and finish area, the setting was excellent. The course had everything a swimrun course could ask for: easy gravel road, technical trail, rock running, enchanted forest, campsite road and asphalt.
A small record in itself: no competitor was eliminated on time during the first laps, which is very unusual. Many stayed in deep into the race, and the number of laps needed to win went up. It ran to around lap 20 before the women’s final, where Johanna Holmberg and Klara Kjellgren went head to head.
Klara won the women’s final and was already crowned the women’s winner. But she wanted more. She stayed in the race all the way to the overall final, against Jesper Sundewall. There she went for the knockout immediately and opened a gap on the very first trail climb. After three runs and two swims she could run into the finish without a sprint.
All of a sudden a woman had pulled off the feat of winning the men’s final and written herself into the 1852 Swimrun history book. So now we get to rename the men’s final the overall final. Fantastic!
On top of that: a participant record up 25 percent, a record number of laps completed in total, and a record number of laps needed to win. The split between women and men was broadly even, which is a small record of its own.
Thanks to Havsvikens restaurang, Dragsö Camping, Umara, 1852 Marin & Fritid, Swedish Sea Rescue, Coast Guard.
