Another Swedish adventure
Swedish Pro Jonas Colting reports from the 2009 Island to Island "triathlon." To cross 20 islands and cover 64 km of total distance, participants (with a partner) get to run 38km, ride 16km and swim 20 times for a total 10km swim.
The fourth edition of "Island to Island" saw a record 60 teams migrating out into the Stockholm archipelago for this oddball event that by all means can be described as a triathlon. But a unique triathlon at that with some 40 different segments and a bike ride that's not even half the distance of all the running combined. This is truly a race that the founding fathers of triathlon would have loved with its grass root feel and unpredictability. The Tom Warrens, Scott Tinleys, John Collins and every other guy named Scott that were the pillars on which the sport was built would highly approve of it!
Race day treated the competitors to picture perfect conditions with overcast skies and no wind at all making the ocean a mirror flat body, perfect in which to spend the majority of the day. Had it not been for the cold! It was so cold that when I hit the first swim just after six in the morning my tongue went numb with the rest of my head. It was like a massive overdose of soft ice cream in my mouth. Except it wasn't sweet. I was swimming next to Björn Andersson who was partnering up with another friend of ours and halfway through that swim of 1600 meters we both stopped to comment on how refreshing the water was. Neither of us could form syllables, so trying to speak most have sounded like two sea lions grunting which isn't a very far-fetched image both being clad in wetsuits and various paraphernalia specific to this race.
As my usual partner in crime, Pasi Salonen, was injured, I teamed up with long time friend and multisport phenom Martin Flinta. Martin has been one of the best triathletes in Sweden for 15 years and has raced successfully in adventure races all over the world and every so often over the years we would team up for some random adventure that more often than not would have a questionable outcome. So far we've been lost in a 100 km foot race in the mountains north of the Arctic Circle, gone to South Africa for training camp that mostly ended with us trying to hitch rides to the best body surfing spots with fewer sharks than elsewhere and we nearly got killed in Tunisia while riding through the desert roads where big oil trucks would scream past us. Our common track record promised an adventurous day!
Somehow it seems like the tales of past misery and suffering at this event had spread widely as this years race had attracted quite a few foreign teams and the organizers early on had to cap the entry at 60 teams, leaving several teams on the waiting list. I was particularly happy to see my friend Jeff Shilt who had brought his brother John as part of a birthday celebration. "Dr J" was well prepared training wise but had no idea how far removed this race was from the normal cookie cutter shape and form that make up most triathlons today. But he was about to find out!
"Island to Island" covers roughly 64 kilometers from Sandhamn to Utö and the 20 islands in between. It offers 38km of running and a 16 km bike ride and consequently the 20 swims between the islands add up to 10km of swimming. When doing the math it doesn't seem so bad, but these aren't the normal and fast-moving kilometers that one usually encounters. Some islands offer terrain where a 10 minute kilometer is a challenge and being that participants swim in their running shoes and fanny packs one need to add at least 50 percent to normal swim splits. Oh, I forgot, you also run in your wetsuit! With 40 some transitions there are huge chunks of time to be saved by not changing gear; a philosophy that a triathlete truly can appreciate! After surviving the first few islands consisting of mostly slippery rocks and bushwhacking, we were happy to hit the more pleasant islands with gravel roads and trails meandering through forests and fields, some of which had cows in them. As I have a deeply rooted skepticism towards livestock, I gave them space and kept thinking "good beef, good beef."
Martin and I caught the leaders around three hours into the event but could feel the chasing teams breathing down our necks and I struggled to keep up with him when he pushed the throttle going through the dense forest. I didn't sport my best Davy Crockett spirit and wasn't able to negotiate the vicious vegetation with its various deceiving traps quite as fast as my merry partner who kept track of the course markers. I would always hear myself though as I uttered various curses and threats under my huffed breathing as I stumbled about. Halfway through we hit the ball breaker of the day; the 1400 meter swim that felt longer than all the other swims combined. I'm so lucky that Martin is slightly slower than I am in the water since it gave me a legitimate reason to flip over on my back and float whenever I couldn't lift my arms anymore. Which happened numerous times I might add. My only consolation was that the cold water aided the recovery of the massive dose of damage I was inflicting upon myself.
Every aid station was a highlight and after this particular swim we were given a Twix bar which lifted our spirits and urged us on to yet another long swim shortly there after. This went on and on and all I was looking forward too was the biking and low and behold, there they were! It was a blessing to jump on this sturdy piece with a granny basket and three gears. I even reached down to grab the basket for some impromptu aero positioning while spinning out of control. We hammered the bike and my legs were screaming uncle as we were trying to really get out of sight and out of mind from our pursuers that allegedly were just behind us.
Running of the bike was not pretty and we were both getting seriously tired and feeling homesick. Imagine the relief when we heard that we were some 20 minutes up on second as we reached the last islands. Oh joyous feel of victory! And it meant we didn't have to kill ourselves trying to sprint across what has to be the least running friendly environment I've ever seen save the lava fields of Hawaii. That is, the actual fields of lava and not the road running through it. 🙂
Our final island offered 2 k of easy running to the finish but our common effort hit us and we jogged vigilantly as the TV-team were shooting us, at least trying to resemble a worthy pace. The last 400 meters are uphill to the finish line and we soaked up every step and even in an odd way felt sorry that it was all done and completed. Nooooo! We did not feel sorry! We were more than happy that it was over and even though this is an awesome race through and through it offered just about as much suffering as I could muster over one day. Makes me think the teams finishing hours after us are even tougher than us!
