The first almost real swimrun - Het Rondje Eilanden 2022
Disclaimer: Automatically translated from Russian
Finally, the report on the first official almost real pig, Het Rondje Eilanden, held on August 6, 2022.
A bit of background. I learned about this event five years ago from one JJ Frend, who participated in it and described it very beautifully. I put this start on the list for the future and forgot about it for a while. The next time I remembered in 2019 during a triatlon hobby and registered. Unfortunately, I didn’t go to the start in my stupidity - I mixed up the day. You can read this sentimental story here.
Then the dog began, then a fall on the bike, as a result of which I lost the ability to swim for a year and a half. But this year, everything somehow developed quite well - and there was time and desire, and I remembered about this event just in time - registration was still open.
Before signing up for participation, I decided to check if I can still swim. Last time I moved sportsly in open water August 16, 2020. And on July 24, 2022, after almost two years, I’m back on the lake. Neatly swam a little more than a kilometer, as expected in boots, short hydrika, shoulder blades and with small stops. It seems normal, the hand rotates, the meters are counted - in general, you can register.
The event is a two-day festival - camping, live music, water activities, all kinds of yoga workshops and one day this one is the most pig. The scheme looks like this:
Twelve islands between which you need to swim and run through each other. The total declared distance is about 5 kilometers by land and 1.5 kilometers by swim. The difference from the classic pigman is that you cannot use wetsuit, row shoulder blades and bullet buoy. I was a little worried about the fact that in the water you will have to work with your feet in boots, which is not very convenient. But most importantly, I don’t even remember when I last swam sports without a hydric. But on the other hand, the recently grown fat should have given some buoyancy. Again, I’m participating for the first time, purely for a fan. The approximate expected finish time took cleanly from the ceiling at around the hour.
The weather on the start day was excellent - sunny, the air temperature is about + 23 degrees. Woke up, had breakfast, gathered. Battle lining:
I doubted a little what trisite to wear - club or regular. It seems that the club is not supposed to perform, but I have not been a member for a long time. But on the other hand, the club has long been renamed and rebranded competitive equipment. But the question fell away by itself after I measured both costumes - from the second I grew up a bit in some places.
I throw things in the car and drive towards Utrecht, at the Vinkeveense Plassen, where everything was done. Large parking, signs:
General view of the first base island. Cafes, changing / massage tents, a beach with a playground and balloons, the ( scene was first held on it by a yoga master class, then read poetry / tales ):
At the entrance to the island I get an envelope that says the time of my starting wave, they put a number on their shoulder with a marker - you can start preparing. I look around. The finish gate with a mountain of towels that are given instead of medals. MyLaps shater with timing equipment:
A little further camping area - tents, a jacuzzi and here are the ribbons to see where to run to the finish line:
Everything is clear with the finish line. I return to the base and go in the opposite direction - to find a way out of the water at the end of the first swimming section and see the entry into the water on the second. Running cover - trampled grass and soil. Great, the most for my thin sneakers.
At the outlet of the mat water and reading device:
An hour to start. I am returning to the base. The volunteers were already loaded onto the boat and taken to the islands:
I change clothes in the triset, throw a bag and start warming up. Again I’m running to the end of the first island. On the way, one of those who go towards:
- started? you first?
- no, I’m in a cap and dry, just warming myself up.
I’m running a little further and a hundred and fifty meters before the end of the first land stage, I notice a volunteer girl in front of me, who seems to be heading for her post. She turns, notices me too, and starts to run forward from the spot - she thought that it had already begun, and she was not yet in place. I turned around and ran back so as not to embarrass.
On the way to the base, I met Tom, with whom we were at the same time in the triathlon club, and Stephen, who is now ( in a new suit! ). Chatted a bit and I ran to meet other friends who were supposed to participate, and they went to watch the island.
After finishing the workout, he took the rest of the things to the tent, sucked in gel and, together with a friend and his daughter, began to start. The start took place in waves depending on the numbers. The range of rooms was called to panton, built six people in a row and released on a whistle for swimming:
Some start - others are waiting in line:
In terms of elitism, in my opinion, they were not very distributed. Everyone was mixed up - and obviously fast triplets from clubs, and lovers of swimming and plastic bathing slippers. In general, the participants had mostly ordinary sneakers, a little fivefingers and these beach slippers on their feet.
Before the start, he wet his glasses. I touched the water - it seems not cold. Turned on the clock to catch the satellite. But while my turn came up, they managed to get out of the waiting mode, and before jumping into the water they did not have time to catch the satellite. So the first longest swimming stage did not sign up. It was pretty crowded - the people from the previous waves had not yet stretched, the water was cloudy, in places finely, someone even walked along the coast.
The water entrances and exits from the water were approximately the same at all stages - you jump into the water, the depth is approximately the waist-neck, then deeper. Tighten the buoys for orientation, well, so that the boats do not swim.
On the opposite side there are one or two ladders. On one island, the stairs were quite high, that the people planted each other so as not to stand for a very long time. But still, traffic jams arose in places.
Swam pretty well. The segments are short, do not have time to get tired. At the floating sites, they begin to overtake more truly by the end, at the running stage you will play the gap, run at a pace of 4:25 min / km. The only thing was not clear how much was left. The first three islands I was still oriented, but then I lost count and it bothered a little. Only on the ninth island I noticed a sign with the number of the island - okay, a little more, you can try to accelerate.
Finally the last island and finish. Give out a towel. Already quite a lot of people. They stand, communicate, eat fruit. Approaching the finish is announced by the loud speaker.
I went and took the phone, waited for friends to shoot their finish line. In response, I received a photograph of myself:
Results.
The first swimming stage (measured separately) - 00: 10: 22.55, 121 of 356 in the overall standings and 72nd of 194 men.
The first running stage (also measured separately, but I did not know which island, so I could accelerate) - 00: 02: 57.20, 28th of 356 total and 25th of 194 men.
Total time - 00:56:44, 79th of 357 (someone joined in the process?) total and 57th of 195 men. Fine.
Strava Link.
In general, the event was very much liked. And the format is cool, and the vibe is so relaxed. For those who want to try a pig, that’s it. And you don’t need to bother with the shell. You can come with the whole family - there is entertainment for everyone. Well, if you don’t go by car, you can very well hang out there to live music and beer before sunset. I’ll be back if possible next year.
Photos in action taken with official Facebook pages of organizers.
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