Odyssey Swimrun Orcas Island Course Preview

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 the day
• Might be hard to see the swim exit from the swim start

R6: Mountain Lake Mini Island Hop (130 feet)

• Keep your goggles on since the run is super short

S6: Mountain Lake Mini Swim (50m/55yds)

R7: Mt. Constitution (4.5 miles)

• Have a plan for this run and make sure you have nutrition and hydration for this section
• Consider cabbing down
• It’s straight uphill. There’s not much relief. Power hiking is your friend.
• There are pretty steep downhills on the way to Twin Lakes.

S7: Twin Lakes Swim #1 (275m/301yds)

• Look for the large pink teardrop flags for the swim exit
• This lake might be colder than the other lakes

R8: Short Twin Lakes Run (.15 miles)

S8: Twin Lakes Swim #2 (100m/110yds)

R9: Mt. Pickett (4.5 miles)

• Not as steep as Mt. Constitution but it’s a long gradual climb
• This is the most remote part of the course
• You might get a little chilly in this section
• Take nutrition and hydration here to get you to Mountain Lake.

S9: Mountain Lake Swim #2 (565m/618yds)

• The start of this swim is the end of a short course swim
• Aid station at the end of this swim and it’s the last aid station before the finish so make sure that you fuel up here

R10: Mountain Lake Perimeter Run (.75 miles)

S10: Mountain Lake Swim #3 (355m/388yds)

• There’s a rope swing at the start of this swim

R11: Mountain Lake Perimeter Run (.5 miles)

S11: Mountain Lake Swim #4 (385m/421yds)

R12: Mountain Lake Island Hop (225 feet)

• A pretty little island according to Brent

S12: Mountain Lake Swim #5 (325m/355yds)

R13: Run back to Cascade Lake (3.75 miles)

• You may see some racers going in the other direction
• Pretty much all downhill

S13: Cascade Lake Swim #4 (725m/793yds)

• Final swim of the day!

R14: Run to Rosario Resort (1 mile)

Annotated Short 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 Mini Swim (50m/55yds)

R6: Mountain lake Mini Island Hop (130 ft)

S6: Mountain Lake Swim #2 (485m/530yds)

R7: Run back to Cascade Lake (2.9 miles)

• You may see some racers going in the other direction
• Pretty much all downhill

S7: Cascade Lake Swim #4 (725m/793yds)

R8: Run to Rosario (1 mile)

COLD WATER COMING!

Training for Orcas is all about getting your climbing legs ready for the course. Find hills and run them. If you don’t have hills, use a stairmaster or find a tall building and run up and down the stairwell.

Brooke shared with us what you will find at Orcas from a Swimrunners perspective and how she prepared for the race. She practiced her uphill and downhill running on as technical trails as possible.

That’s it for this week’s show. If you are enjoying the Löw Tide Böyz, be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast player and leave us a five-star review. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, and on YouTube. You can also follow our meme page on Instagram. Email us at lowtideboyz@gmail.com with any feedback and/or suggestions. Finally, you can support our efforts on Patreon…if you feel so inclined.

Thanks for listening and see you out there!

- Chip and Chris