A Cold and Magical Race
The 5th annual SwimRun NC was pushed to a later date this year and very cold water temperatures made this hard race even more challenging. Just 2 weeks earlier on the original race date of October 24th the water in the lake was still in the mid 60s and in the river just under 60 degrees. But with a cold front coming though the last few days before November 7 the water temperature in the lake had dropped to 52 degrees and in the river to 47 degrees. Luckily though the air temperature climbed steadily to pleasant numbers with a sunny blue sky overhead. The competition up front in every division was fierce and a nice prize purse and ÖtillÖ merit points had attracted some incredible talent – led by Andrew Starykowicz and Jarrod Shoemaker in the male division. But a victory was not a given for them and there was truly no true contender in any of the 3 divisions racing on that technical mountainous 16 mile running course with 2,700 feet of elevation gain and drop. The run distance however was split into 10 runs and the 2 miles of swimming was split into 9 very cold swims.
The race in addition to vetting the field for athletic prowess, also required this year that all athletes and volunteers be fully COVID19 vaccinated, and at this time also accepted a very recent negative PCR test. Additionally while in the start chute all athletes were required to wear disposable masks provided by the race, and the athletes could dump them into trash containers once they started to spread out about 200 meters after.
But here now images from this very scenic and memorable event.
Jennifer Mullen and Richard Mullen came from Maryland and they seemed to fully embrace the whole experience. The waterfalls in the Window Falls section though were a very early warning sign about how cold the swims would be. But after running hard uphill in a wetsuit a cold shower is not such a bad gift from above.
Jacob Gilden and Liz Baugher took charge of the mixed division early on and were determined to stay up there. In the last race in 2019 Gilden broke his toe way up on the mountain and had to hobble to the finish, and this time they wanted to come back uninjured and still married.
Higher up in the Window Falls the leading Naval Academy team of Brian Primeaux and Jacob Dodge was already disappearing out of sight when Jarrod Shoemaker and Andrew Starykowicz made that climb. Hot on their heals were Benjamin Wilson and Tyler Robakiewicz – but this young team ended up in 8th place at the end.
Jonathan Story and Tim Ferguson were wearing the silver bibs as the second ranked male team from the 2019 US SwimRun season. But with all but one race cancelled or postponed in 2020, they had to wait until 2021 to wear it in NC. Story and Ferguson were 7th in the end.
Popular race photographer Brian Fancher teamed up with Jamie Turner in the mixed division and these 2 veterans managed to finish 3rd in that division.
The Naval Academy team of Pippin Robinson and Sofie Tasker looked smooth and efficient all day and managed to grab the win in the end. But that victory did not come easy.
Rob Livingood dresses up each year in costume to provide water safety, and athletes often think that they are hallucinating when they see death above them.
Jarrod Shoemaker led the runs and Andrew Starkowicz the swims for team FAST Racing, and after a couple of cold swims Starykowicz gave the slightly shaky and gibberish talking Shoemaker a hand exiting the water.
After the race when Starky was asked if he thought the "triathlon without a bike" label was right for SwimRun and he answered strongly with "hell no." And Shoemaker added that it was much closer to adventure racing.
Trista Mennen and Amy Bush of team Adorkable are without a doubt some of the biggest ambassadors for the SwimRun sport and have brought in tons of folks into this sport.
Brian Primeaux and Jacob Dodge were 2nd by on top of Moore's Wall by about a minute, but on the very technical descent they caught race leaders Starykowicz and Shoemaker and then quickly disappeared out of sight. By the time they reached the 5th swim they had another minute lead.
But the 2 teams up front were hunted by Jack McAfee and John Knight and that fast duo was steadily gaining on the leaders. In the end they managed to reel in the Navy team who had to pay for their hard pace all day. But Starykowicz and Shoemaker were out of reach and grabbed the win.
The 3-time defending champion Marcus Barton had teamed up with Lee Greene all year, but after racing tons of events this year, the result was likely not what they had hoped. They golden bib wearing squad ended up in 6th place.
Leyla Porteous and Meryl Switzer ended up 3rd in the female division, but their sock game was tops.
The Cascade Falls are also quite scenic and challenging and here team Philly Special Eric Suro and Steve Thompson tackle the last tricky bit of this section.
The very cold water put an end to the race for quite a few teams. Here Laura Bergman gets warmed by a volunteer while her partner Chris Ohlson looks on concerned. They ended up not finishing the race, but she is fine and wants to return in 2022.
The main aid station at the lake offered hot broth in addition to Gatorade, water, SIS gels, apple sauce, bananas, pretzels and Haribo gummy peaches and sour cola gummies. But it was the hot broth that was a popular big hit.
Rachel Dolan and Katherine Tobin were 5th in the 2019 race but managed to grab 4th place in 2021 and thus received the coveted engraved 4th place rock hammers.
Stephanie Knapp and Scott Wells descending down to the Dan River for the final swim of the day. Thankfully the swim was with the current and by now the sun had warmed the air nicely.
Charles Larsen and Eric Reichert of team Yoder Performance despite struggling a bit at the end in the Dan River raced well all day and managed to grab 4th place overall and thus also earned a pair of engraved rock hammers.
The male champions Andrew Starykowicz and Jarrod Shoemaker welcomed later arriving teams back to the finishing steps and the awaiting beer and pizza.
2021 SwimRun NC
November 7, 2021 – Hanging Rock State Park, NC
Top Male Teams
1. Andrew Starykowicz and Jarrod Shoemaker (FAST Racing) 3:22:23
2. Jack McAfee and John Knight (Budgie Smugglers) 3:24:24
3. Brian Primeaux and Jacob Dodge (Ocean View Swimrun) 3:25:28
4. Eric Reichert and Charles Larsen (Yoder Performance) 3:31:08
5. Scott Turner and Je Urbanowicz (Original HERBerts and Spices) 3:38:04
Top Female Teams
1. Pippin Robinson and Sophie Tasker (Get Shrecked) 4:08:49
2. Katie Malone and Abby Russell (Run Hard Put Away Wet) 4:31:41
3. Leyla Porteous and Meryl Switzer (Going with the flow) 4:38:48
4. Rachel Dolan and Katherine Tobin (#RageOn) 4:43:08
5. Amy Bush and Trista Mennen (Adorkable) 5:11:17
Top Mixed Teams
1. Liz Baugher and Jacob Gilden (BatmansParents) 3:57:06
2. Ben Paxton and Maddie Stambaugh (Dr. Evil & Dr. Strange) 4:00:36
3. Brian Fancher and Jamie Turner (Air Ground Task Force) 4:07:59
4. Juli Davenport and Matthew Davenport (RadKat) 4:21:34
5. Jennifer Mullen and Richard Mullen (It's Goku Time) 4:55:23
Images 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 17, 18, 19 © John Segesta
Images 2, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 20 © Christine Rucker
Images 10 and 13 © Richard Hill
